China had 710 million netizens at the end of June, among whom 23 percent were under 19 years old, with more than 20.59 million under the age of 10, according to the latest data from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

The number of children surfing the Internet saw a slight increase compared to data released at the end of last year, indicating that the Internet continued to penetrate into lower-age groups.

Parents, content providers, game producers, schools and regulators are suggested to make concerted efforts to protect children from potential physical and mental harm that may result from surfing the Internet.

Experts have proposed an Internet grading system to protect children in China. A previous survey also showed that 72.4 percent of those interviewed supported an Internet grading system.