China has over 18 mn 3G users

BEIJING: The number of 3G mobile telecommunication users in China has reached 18.08 million in March, Xinhua reported Thursday.

China Mobile took the biggest 3G market share at 42.5 percent, followed by China Telecom at 30.8 percent and China Unicom at 26.7 percent, said Zhu Jun, deputy director of the telecom development department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The three telecommunication operators invested six billion yuan ($878.9 million) in 3G network construction in the first three months, out of the total 95 billion yuan planned for the year, said Xin Guobin, director of the ministry's Performance Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

The ministry said earlier this month that China expects 150 million 3G mobile telecommunication users by 2011 when investment in 3G development would hit 400 billion yuan.

The Internet industry in China had been expanding and boosting social and economic development, Zhu told a press conference. China had 191 million subscribers to the country's social networking sites in March.

By the end of 2009, China had 3.23 million domestic websites, he added.