Samsung Electronics Co. said Sunday it has released its flagship Galaxy S2 smartphone in China, in a move to expand its presence in the burgeoning smartphone market there. In South Korea, Samsung launched the Galaxy S2, a faster, thinner and lighter version of its Galaxy S smartphone in April. The model, later released in Japan and Europe, recorded sales of 3 million units in less than two months of its debut. Samsung officials in China said they started to sell the latest mobile gadget in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Chengdu on Saturday. China has seen steady growth in its number of mobile phone users in recent years. The number topped 900 million in April this year, compared to 787 million in the same month last year. Beijing-based researcher Analysys International said earlier this month that Nokia Corp. holds the largest share of the mobile phone market in China with 29.6 percent as of the end of April, followed by South Korean electronics maker Samsung Electronics Co. with 22.6 percent. Out of all the mobile users, 28 percent use smartphones, the research firm said. It predicted that 50 percent of the Chinese mobile subscribers will use smartphones by the end of 2013.