BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The number of China's mobile phone subscribers in February grew by a record 9.46 million from the previous month, powered by reduced handset prices and user charges, the Ministry of Information Industry said on Monday.

    China had 565 million mobile phone users by the end of last month, up from 556 million in January and 547 million in December, the ministry said in a statement.

    The number of fixed-line subscribers fell 3.26 million in the first two months to 362 million by the end of February. The figure has decreased for seventh months in a row, according to the ministry data.

    China's two wireless operators signed up a total of 86.2 million new subscribers last year, with 68.1 million attributed to China Mobile.

    The nation's top wireless operator said in its annual report last Wednesday that half of the new subscribers were from the countryside, which had "become a key source of new subscribers and an important impetus behind revenue growth."

    China was expected to have more than 600 million mobile phone subscribers by 2010, about 46 percent of its population, according to the government.