China now officially has more internet users than the USA.

Nielsen and NetRatings has published figures that reveal that China is now the world's largest internet market by number of users.

Chinese internet users hit 212 million at end of 2007, according to data from the China Internet Network Information Center.

The American web population at 216 million for the same period, according to the research.

And the Chinese internet boom is set to grow with eCommerce being the next growth area, according to analysts, as businesses start to target the millions of Chinese consumers that are now online.