The number of mobile phone subscribers in China hit a record 416 million at the end of April, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said on Sunday.

Statistics show that the number increased by 23.216 million in the first four months of the year which was more than twice the increase of fixed-line users. There are 55.7 million more mobile subscribers than fixed-line users.

The average monthly increase in mobile users has been between 3 million and 4 million in the past year, said the MII. 

China's mobile subscribers have been growing rapidly and overtook fixed-line users in October 2003.

Along with the increase in mobile users the short message volume climbed 46.5 percent over the previous year in the first four months of 2006 to 132.25 billion.

The ministry also said in the January-April period this year China's total post and telecommunications revenue reached 229.31 billion yuan (around US$28.6 billion)--up 11.7 percent over the same period of last year.

China imported its first mobile phone telecommunication facilities in 1987 and a decade later the number of subscribers reached 10 million. Just four years later the country had the largest number of mobile phone users in the world.

(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2006)