BEIJING, Dec. 18  -- China will boast more than half a billion smartphone users by the end of this year, an official with the State Internet Information Office (SIIO) said.

The country has 1.3 billion cellphone users, said Wang Xiangrong, deputy director of the website information broadcasting department under SIIO, China's Web regulator.

With smartphones becoming more affordable and improved telecommunication services, by the end of 2014 three of every 10 smartphone users in the world will be Chinese, Wang said Thursday at an Internet industry conference held in Beijing.

"More than 40 percent of China's citizens will access the Internet through their cellphones next year," he predicted.

"In the last 20 years, the Internet in China has created a fertile market with limitless potential. The Internet has also facilitated new technological advances, products and business models as well as millions of jobs," Wang added.