“China’s population of Internet users has risen by 30 percent over the past year to 132 million, a state news agency said Friday.” reports Associated Press.

” The figure was up from 123 million at the end of June, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the government’s China Internet Network Information Center.

It said the number of Chinese customers with broadband access has grown to 52 million.

The rapid rise in Internet use has propelled growth in China’s online commerce, advertising and games industries, the Internet agency said.

China’s communist government encourages Internet use for business and education but tries to block access to material deemed subversive or pornographic. Dozens of people have been jailed on subversion or security charges for posting political essays online. “

You do know that there are more internet users in China than all of North America combined already. Some other global stats are here.