BEIJING - China had 531 million online payment users at the end of last year, accounting for 68.8 percent of China's online population, according to a report on China's internet development released Wednesday.

Some 527 million of the online payment users relied on smart phones to close deals last year, said the report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

China's online population hit 772 million at the end of 2017, up 5.6 percent from 2016, the report said.

Over 65 percent of the online population used mobile payments for off-line consumption, according to the report.

The number of online shopping users increased to 533 million at the end of last year, 14.3 percent more than 2016, and 67.2 percent of the online shoppers used smart phones for consumption, said the CNNIC.

Last year, 129 million Chinese purchased online financial products, up 30.2 percent from 2016, the report showed.