The number of phone users in China had exceeded 960 million as of July, including over 600 million mobile phone users, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Wednesday.

More than 290 million mobile users were in the more developed eastern region of China.

The first seven months saw a net increase of mobile phone users of more than 61 million, averaging a monthly 8.7 million increase, the highest growth yet.

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.