China's 111 million Internet users paid 100 billion yuan (US$12.5 billion) for Internet services last year, according to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center in Beijing on Tuesday.

According to the report, China has the second largest number of Internet and broadband users in the world, after the United States.

Each user's average monthly expenditure was 103.6 yuan (US$12.9), excluding additional charges for other services such as e-commerce.

Internet penetration in China stands at 8.5 percent, while the world average is 1.52 percent.

The report added that the distribution of users is not even. Nearly 90 percent of the Internet users are urban citizens in the eastern, southern and central parts of China.

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2006)