China's Mobile Phone User Growth Slows To 3.96 Million In Feb

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Growth in the number of CChina's mobile phone users slowed in February, official statistics issued Friday show, with the country recording an increase of 3.96 million in the month compared to 5.82 million in January.

The total number of mobile phone users stood at 216.4 million at the end of February, according to figures from the Ministry of Information Industry. They are all customers of one of China's two mobile service providers, China Mobile Communications Corp. and China United Telecommunications Corp.

The ministry also said the number of fixed-line telephone users grew to 221.5 million in February, an increase of 3.5 million from January. Those telephone users are in turn divided between the country's two major providers of local telephone services, China Telecom Group and China Netcom Group.