Visitors try a 5G-powered haptic device, by which users can feel remote objects in real-time, at the Light of the Internet Expo Center in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Yin Dongxun)

BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The number of China's internet users hit 989 million by the end of last year, an increase of 85.4 million from March 2020, according to a report on China's internet development released Wednesday.

The country's internet availability rate was raised by 5.9 percentage points from March to 70.4 percent, said the statistical report from the China Internet Network Information Center.

A total of 986 million Chinese used mobile phones to surf the internet, accounting for 99.7 percent of the online population, said the report.

Around 309 million, or 31.3 percent of the online population, live in rural areas, an increase of 54.71 million from March.

Meanwhile, the internet availability rate in rural areas neared 56 percent, up 9.7 percentage points from March, according to the report.