BEIJING - Consumption of information products and services in China surged 20 percent in the first half of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, according to a Chinese official.

Information consumption topped 1.35 trillion yuan ($218 billion) in the January-June period, up 20 percent from a year earlier, Zhang Feng, chief engineer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told a press conference on Thursday.

Nearly 200 million smartphones were shipped between the start of January and the end of June, accounting for 87 percent of total mobile phone output, Zhang said. During the period, e-commerce transactions expanded 26.7 percent year on year, while online sales grew by one third.

Zhang also noted that more mobile internet applications are now serving financial, transportation and medical purposes rather than providing entertainment such as music and games.

Mobile data traffic rose 52.1 percent year on year January-June while revenue generated on that rose 46.4 percent, he said.

Regarding the booming 4G business in China, Zhang said China Telecom and China Unicom are experimenting with mixed-mode networks in 16 Chinese cities and more commercial 4G licenses can be expected.

China's 4G users topped 13.97 million by the end of June, seven months after the issuance of 4G licenses to China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. The country had 471 million 3G users in June.

Information products and services refers to IT hardware and software concerned with spreading information. Smartphones are a major part of this field.

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