BEIJING, July 19 -- The number of Chinese mobile phone users accounted for 94.5 percent of its total population by the end of June, latest data showed.

In the first half, China saw 6.88 million new mobile phone users, bringing the country's total mobile phone users to 1.29 billion, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in a statement.

The ratio of mobile phone users to population was higher than 100 percent in nine provincial-level regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, as well as provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang.

The number of users choosing broadband mobile Internet services (3G and 4G services) reached 674 million by the end of June, accounting for 52.1 percent of all mobile phone users.

Fourth-generation (4G) mobile network, which offers faster Internet access than previous modes, witnessed explosive user growth last month, with total 4G users up 24.69 million from a month earlier to 225 million.