The number of China's phone subscribers has risen to 791 million by June this year from 746 million in 2005, said a source with the country's Ministry of Information.

The number of fixed-line phone subscribers stood at 365 million, while that of mobile phone users at 426 million, said Ding Wenwu, vice-director of the ministry's electronic information management department, in the eastern city of Suzhou.

Ding, while attending the the fourth China International Integrate Circuit Industry Expo, said China's telecommunication sector has seen sharp growth over the last five years.

The growth has come from more people in the country's poor and remote western areas being able to afford telephones.

China's mobile subscribers have been growing steadily since they outnumbered fixed-line phone subscribers in October 2003.

The average monthly increase in mobile users last year was between 3 million and 4 million, said the ministry in May this year.

China has boasted the largest number of phone subscribers in the world since 2002.

Source: Xinhua