THE number of Internet users in Shenzhen had reached 5.49 million by May 31, 1.01 million more than the figure recorded last year.
The Internet penetration rate in the city was 62.3 percent, 2.4 times the national average of 25.5 percent, according to a report released by the Shenzhen Online Media Association on Wednesday.
Most Shenzhen netizens — 5.29 million — chose the broadband service, accounting for 96.3 of the total.
The report said half the users were younger than 30 and two-thirds used mobile phones to access the Internet at least once over the past year.
Online shopping is becoming more popular and nearly 60 percent of users shopped online over the past year with each spending an average of 212 yuan (US$31) a month.
Searching for employment information was the main reason more than 73 percent logged on while 69 percent looked for tourist information, 67 percent played games and 65 percent wanted information of transport. IT product procurement attracted 65 percent and music 64.8 percent.
In terms of Internet application services, news reading, e-mail, online forums and community discussions, music downloading and instant messaging were among the most popular with usage rates ranging from 95.6 percent to 60.4 percent.
(Han Ximin, Zeng Yanjun)