China’s number of internet users grew to nearly 1.1 billion in the first half of 2024, driven mostly by signups among teenagers and the elderly, according to a new report published on Thursday.

More than 7.4 million people gained internet access in China between January and June 2024, meaning that nearly four in five people in the country are now online, outlined the report by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), a government-affiliated research institute.

The massive growth in China’s online population has been driven by vast investment in infrastructure. Thirty years ago, the country was connected to the World Wide Web for the first time via a single line inside the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Since then, the government has built millions of base stations, extending coverage into even the remotest corners of the country.

According to the report, China has built a total of 3.9 million 5G base stations, with every county-level region in the country now having 5G connectivity. Nearly 64% of the country’s rural population currently uses the internet, a slight decrease from the 66.5% recorded at the end of 2023.

The CNNIC has been publishing reports on China’s internet market on a regular basis since 1997. This year’s report was released to coincide with the 2024 China International Big Data Industry Expo in the southwestern Guizhou province.

In 2024, the growth of the internet market has been driven mainly by the young and elderly. Individuals aged 10-19 accounted for 49% of the 7.42 million new users, while those aged 50 or above made up 36%.

In most cases, these new internet users signed up to gain access to entertainment and social apps, the report found, especially short video platforms such as Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.

Over one-third of new internet users said that the first app they had used was a short video app, while 12.6% said they had used an instant messaging app like WeChat. In total, more than 1 billion people in China now use short video apps, accounting for over 95% of the country’s online population.

“Short video applications demonstrate a powerful ability to attract new users, which is due to their convenience, rich content, and personalized recommendation algorithms,” Liu Yulin, a director at CNNIC, told domestic media.

Ultrashort dramas popular on Douyin and other short video apps are also going mainstream at breakneck speed, the report found. More than 52% of Chinese internet users had watched an ultrashort drama in 2024, not far off the 65% who had watched long-form video content.

But the report pointed out that the audience for long-form videos is also growing, driven by the success of drama series such as “To the Wonder” and “Blossoms Shanghai.”

In fact, China’s internet users are becoming more active pretty much across the board. More people in China are purchasing services online, with 50.3% of internet users placing orders via food delivery platforms, 20.7% paying at restaurants via an online platform, and 17.3% buying tickets to theaters, cinemas, and other entertainment venues. Of those who chose to trade in an old cellphone, home appliance, or other device, 68.8% did so via an online platform.

The report also noted a sharp uptick in the number of people using artificial intelligence-related products, such as large language models. Sales of AI services grew by 20.8% during the first half of 2024.

China also passed another milestone in June, as the number of people using internet-connected cars surpassed 100 million, the report found.

(Header image: VCG)