SHANGHAI, Jul 18 -- THE number of Internet users on the Chinese mainland rose at an average speed of 100 per minute in the first half of this year, and 27.3 percent of the cyber community are using mobile phones to surf the Web, according to a report released yesterday by the China Internet Network Information Center.

The report said the number of Internet users jumped to 162 million during the first six months of this year.

The number of people with access to a broadband connection rose to 122 million during the first half of the year, or about 75 percent of all mainland Internet users, the report stated.

The report said the number of mainland-based Websites rose to 9.18 million over the first six months of the year. Using online search engines was the most popular activity among survey respondents, with 76.3 percent of users saying they read news and used online search engines frequently.

Using online search engines was followed by instant communication tools such as QQ and MSN. About 69.8 percent of respondents said they used the tools everyday, and 55.4 percent used email.

Viewing or downloading videos or movies and music were also listed as popular activities as 68.5 percent said they listened to music online and almost half said they played online games.

However, fewer people did online shopping, job searching or online courses, said the report.

Internet penetration among primary and secondary students reached 36.7 percent, almost double the figure of last June. About 60 million of China's 200 million students have had the chance to surf the Web, the report said.

Student respondents to the CNNIC survey said they spend an average of 11.6 hours on the net a week, fewer than the previous 15 hours.