China Internet Population Reaches 221 Million

China had overtaken the United States in the number of Web surfers and is expected to have 280 million Internet users by the end of the year.

China's online population has become the largest in the world after it reached 221 million in February, outnumbering Internet users in the United States, state media reported on Thursday.

The figure represents a marked increase from the end of 2007, when the number of online users stood at 210 million, just five million less than the US, according to figures released by the China Internet Network Information Center.

BDA China, a Beijing-based research firm, last month also said China had overtaken the US in the number of web surfers, and was expected to have 280 million Internet users by the end of the year.

The proportion came to 16 percent at the end of 2007, compared with a world average of 19.1 percent, the news agency said.

The fast growing online population has made the Internet a new forum for the average Chinese to express opinions in a free-wheeling way rarely seen on the strictly government-controlled traditional media.

It has stirred up Beijing's fears about potential social unrest, and President Hu Jintao called last year for efforts to "purify" the Internet.