the digital divide still exists. Due to a high correlation between Internet development level and economic growth rate in different regions, highest Internet penetration rates are mainly seen in eastern provinces while lowest rates mainly in southwestern provinces. Table 6 Netizen Population and Internet Penetration Rate in Different Provinces (Municipalities Directly under the Central Government and Autonomous Regions) of Mainland China in 2016 Number of 2016.12 2015.12 Ranking of Internet Internet Internet Province Size growth penetration users penetration penetration rate （10,000 rate rate people） Beijing 1690 77.8% 76.5% 2.6% 1 Shanghai 1791 74.1% 73.1% 1.0% 2 Guangdong 8024 74.0% 72.4% 3.3% 3 Fujian 2678 69.7% 69.6% 1.1% 4 Zhejiang 3,632 65.6% 65.3% 1.0% 5 Tianjin 999 64.6% 63.0% 4.5% 6 Liaoning 2,741 62.6% 62.2% 0.4% 7 Jiangsu 4,513 56.6% 55.5% 2.2% 8 Shanxi 2,035 55.5% 54.2% 3.0% 9 Xinjiang 1,296 54.9% 54.9% 2.7% 10 Qinghai 320 54.5% 54.5% 0.8% 11 Hebei 3,956 53.3% 50.5% 6.0% 12 Shandong 5,207 52.9% 48.9% 8.7% 13 Shaanxi 1,989 52.4% 50.0% 5.5% 14 Inner 1,311 52.2% 50.3% 4.1% 15 Mongolia Hainan 470 51.6% 51.6% 0.9% 16 Chongqing 1,556 51.6% 48.3% 7.6% 17 Hubei 3,009 51.4% 46.8% 10.5% 18 Jilin 1,402 50.9% 47.7% 6.7% 19 Ningxia 339 50.7% 49.3% 3.7% 20 Heilongjiang 1,835 48.1% 44.5% 7.5% 21 Tibet 149 46.1% 44.6% 5.5% 22 Guangxi 2,213 46.1% 42.8% 8.8% 23 42 Jiangxi 2,035 44.6% 38.7% 15.7% 24 The 39th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China