South Korea’s pop sensation Psy was named the No. 1 celebrity on China’s own Twitter-like social network service, the service operator said Friday, reflecting his popularity even in China.

Sina Corp., a leading Chinese online media company, said Psy was the celebrity who was the most talked about by users on its popular Weibo microblog service in 2012, garnering 109 million mentions.

Psy, who is called “Uncle Bird” by Chinese fans, was the distinctive leader on the list of 2012 Weibo Celebrities.

He was followed by Han Geng, a Chinese pop singer and former member of South Korean boy band Super Junior, who was mentioned on Twitter more than 75.6 million times.

Han Han, a young Chinese writer and blogger who is well known for his outspoken style, also made it on the list in fourth place, with 46.2 million mentions.

Mo Yan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature this year, ranked 11th with 26.9 million mentions.

In October, Psy topped a Chinese online music chart as the popularity of his global hit “Gangnam Style” spilled over into the world’s most populous country.

“Gangnam Style” ranked No. 1 on the music search service of China’s largest search engine, Baidu. It also spawned numerous copycat videos and parodies among Chinese Internet users.

The song has caught on with fans in China after Psy’s popularity spread from the United States, where the single first went viral, to Europe and Latin America.

According to Sina, “Gangnam Style” ranked No. 3 on the 2012 Weibo Hot Topics.

The 34-year-old Korean singer and rapper opened his personal account on Sina Weibo in early November.

His Weibo account had nearly 150,000 followers in less than one day and the number has now increased to 3.7 million.

Psy, who has performed only in Macau and Hong Kong for Chinese fans, has expressed his intentions to go to mainland China and showcase his hallmark horse-riding dance. (Yonhap News)