Mobile has played a key role in internet adoption in China, and reports now show that for the first time, more people are accessing the internet via mobile than desktop.

The report, published by the state-affiliated research organisation China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), reveals that Chinese users accessing in the Internet using mobiles grew to 83.4 per cent in June 2014, with 80.9 accessing via PCs.

This represents a 2.4 percentage point growth for mobile internet access in just six months, while desktop and laptop usage both declined slightly, to 69.6 percent and 43.7 per cent respectively.

While Chinas internet-connected population is still increasing, the rate of growth may be beginning to slow. In the last six months, China added 14m new internet users and 27m new mobile internet users, bringing the internet penetration rate up to 46.9 per cent for the country, an increase of 1.1 per cent from the close of 2013.

Other reports have already shown that China is embracing eCommerce, with the highest percentage of online shoppers across all devices. The CNNIC report noted there had been a “rapid growth” in the use of mobile payment services, which has in turn led to increases in mCommerce, group buying and services like online travel booking. Mobile shoppers in China grew to 205m in June 2014, up 42 per cent in just six months.