The number of phone users in China had exceeded 960 million as of July, but the subscriber base for fixed line has started dwindling, latest official figures showed.
Out of the 960 million telephone users, 600 million were mobile phone subscribers, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said today.
More than 290 million mobile users were in the eastern provinces.
The first seven months saw a net increase of mobile phone users by more than 61 million, averaging a monthly growth of 8.7 million, the highest recorded so far.
Fixed-line subscribers dropped 10.6 million from January to July, or a reduction of 1.35 million monthly, with the total at 355 million as of July, Xinhua news agency reported.