China has 210 million netizens

China's internet population reached 210 million in 2007, just 5 million less than the world's top country, the United States.

A report released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) last week showed that the number of internet users grew by 53.3 percent from the previous year or by about 20 million users per day. At this rate, China is expected to become the world's largest wired nation in just a few months.

The CNNIC said that the greatest growth came from the users under 18 and over 30. About 40 percent of new users, or 29.2 million, came from rural areas, making it a big potential consumer market. However, the majority of internet users were still based in urban areas such as Beijing and Shanghai, a report on PC World said.

Broadband users topped 163 million in 2007 and 50.4 million mobile phone users have wireless internet access.

About 181 million internet users listen to online music while as many as 170 million use instant messaging. Email and other internet-based applications lagged behind.

According to PC World, the CNNIC survey provides the most reliable information about internet size in China, although the survey has some shortcomings. The CNNIC doesn't reveal its sample size, nor does it define what an internet user is, apart from the requirement that the person has used the internet at least once in the month before the survey, the news report said.