Internet usage in China is slowing. The country added only 14.4 million new Internet users in the first half of 2014, the lowest half-year growth in eight years.

In June, according to the government-linked China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the country had 632 million Internet users. That far exceeds any other country. The U.S. has a penetration rate of 87 percent while China has only 46.9 percent. That accounts for the 450 million people in rural areas that never go online.

Most of those rural people have no need to go online, but China is proposing that the country focus on teaching rural elementary students Internet skills.

A decade ago, China had only 94 million users getting online. Most all of those were in urban settings. But with the new found use of smart phones, 527 million users went online with mobile phones. That figure tops all users of PC's including both notebooks and desktops.

Online messaging, search engines, and news are the country’s top Internet services.