China has 1.3b mobile phone users: white paper

BEIJING - The total number of phone users in China hit about 1.54 billion by the end of 2015, and about 1.3 billion of them were mobile phone users, a white paper said Thursday.

The white paper, titled "The Right to Development: China's Philosophy, Practice and Contribution," said the number of Internet users stood at 688 million.

The document, released by the State Council Information Office, said people's living standards have significantly improved in the country.

From 1978 to 2015, per capita GDP grew from more than 200 U.S. dollars to above 8,000 U.S. dollars, according to the white paper.

In 1978, per capita disposable income of urban residents was only 343.4 yuan, and per capita net income of rural residents was only 133.6 yuan.

In 2015, per capita disposable income of all residents reached 21,966 yuan and the figures were 31,195 yuan for urban residents and 11,422 yuan for rural residents.

Chinese residents made 127.86 million outbound trips in the same year, including 121.72 million private trips, according to the white paper.