Beijing, Jan 23 (IANS) The number of people, who opted for mobile payments in China soared 31.2 per cent in 2016 to reach 469 million, a new study revealed on Monday.

This strong growth was partly due to a continued increase in users connecting to the internet through their mobile phones, which grew 75 million, or 12.1 percent, in 2016, to

stand at 696 million, the study conducted by the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) said.

Meanwhile, the number of internet users rose 43 million, or 6.3 per cent, to 731 million in 2016, Efe news reported.

The penetration of internet in China increased to 53.2 per cent of the total population, 3.1 percentage points more than the global average, and 7.6 percentage points more than the average in Asia.

The study also shows that Chinese netizens prefer to access government services online over going to the government offices or through telephones.