China vaults over U.S. in number of Internet users (1/2ページ)

China, already the world leader in cell phone use, has surpassed the United States as the No. 1 nation in Internet users.

The number of Chinese on the Internet hit more than 220 million as of February, according to estimates from official Chinese statistics by the Beijing-based research group BDA China. The government is likely to confirm the leap at its half-yearly report in July.

The longtime Internet leader, the U.S., which founded and developed the network of computers, had 216 million users at the end of 2007, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

The percentage of American users - 71 percent - still exceeds China's 17 percent. China has 1.3 billion people, compared with nearly 304 million in the United States.