DSL Takes China to #1

Thanks to a booming online entertainment industry, Chinese digital subscriber line population, an index of a country's broadband level, surpassed Japan as No. 1 in the world.

DSL users in China hit 19.15 million last year, five times the level last year, according to a latest industry report from the United States.

Japan had the world's second-biggest DSL population with 10.27 million by the end of the year, followed by the United States with 9.11 million.

DSL systems based on the fixed-line phone network are the standard of broadband Internet access in China.