By the end of June, China had over 45.8 million Internet users who stay on line for one hour or more everyday, the third largest number in the world, after the United States and Japan.

Of China's total population, 3.6 percent surf the net with 12 million newcomers hooking up in the first half of this year.

The figures were disclosed by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) when it published a report on the development of the networking industry in the country Monday.

It is the tenth report published by the CNNIC since 1997, according to official sources.

Local experts attribute the fast increase in the number of Internet users to government efforts to build infrastructure and restructure the telecommunications industry.

According to the report, China has 16.13 million computers connected to the Internet, and almost 300,000 websites including 126,146 websites under the domain of "CN".

The tenth survey by CNNIC shows that Chinese surfers on average receive 6.5 emails and send 5.3 each week. Each user also receives an average of 6.9 junk emails every week.

The survey found that local Internet users are becoming more and more rational in their on-line behavior. The numbers of email addresses and emails for each local Internet user are decreasing.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2002)