China's population of Internet users grew by 50.9 million people in 2012 to 564 million, according to official data released on Tuesday by the China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC.) The figures showed that the number of people accessing the Internet via mobile devices in 2012 increased 18.1 percent to 420 million.

The use of micro-blogging services also surged, with the total number of users increasing by 58.73 million to 309 million.

The number of mobile phone users in China in 2012 was 4.2 million, showing an annual growth rate of 18.1%. In addition, the proportion of internet mobile users rose to 74.5%.

Online shoppers in China, meanwhile, rose 24.8 percent to 242 million.