BEIJING (AFX) - China had a total of 111 mln Internet users as of the end of 2005, against 94 mln a year earlier, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said in a report.
The Internet information center said Internet expenditure in China surpassed 100 bln yuan for 2005. This was the first time spending data has been released.
CNNIC also said China's Internet users spent an average of 15.9 hours a week on the Internet, up 20.5 pct year-on-year.
At the end of 2005, China had 49.5 mln computers connected to the Internet against 41.6 mln a year earlier, CNNIC said.
It also said Internet users in eastern China, the country's most affluent region, accounted for 57.8 pct of the total, representing a big digital gap between the east and the rest of the country.
CNNIC is a government-backed non-profit organization providing Internet-related services including domain name registry, IP address application as well as Internet surveys.
