Executives of eBay Inc. said Thursday that the company's Internet-based phone service Skype has seen explosive growth in China and the country is now Skype's biggest market.

Speaking to hundreds of analysts and investors gathered at eBay 's San Jose, California headquarters, Skype president and former eBay chief financial officer Rajiv Dutta said the service has 13 million users in China, according to a report at the financial news website MarketWatch.com.

That means Skype has nearly as many Skype users in China as it has in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom combined. The service has 6 million U.S. users, 3 million in the U.K. and 5 million in Germany.

"Skype is a huge hit in China," said Matt Bannick, president of eBay's international operations.

EBAY spent 4 billion dollars in cash and stock last year to acquire Skype as part of a plan to expand beyond its roots as an online auction site.

Skype, which launched its service in August 2003, has more than 100 million users in the world and handles seven percent of the world's long-distance minutes, accoring to ebay's estimates.

Skype currently generates all of its sales from Skype Out, a service that lets Skype users call a regular phone from a computer.

Source: Xinhua