China is the biggest internet market in the world by penetration rate, estimated by eMarketer. In 2018, China internet’s penetration will exceed 90%.

In 2014, China sex ratio among internet users are 126 men to every 100 women according to data of eMarketer. It estimates that by 2018, China internet female and male users will be about half to half which indicates female internet users’ penetration rate will be much high since there are fewer female in China. 

75% of Chinese families’ consumption is decided by women and their influence is extended to internet and mobile internet. Chinese female internet users are showing great potential nowadays.

The internet penetration rate among China’s young adults is relatively high in 2014. 80% of China internet users who are between 18 and 34 years old access internet every month. The data also shows the old who are over 60 years old also use internet a lot in China nowadays. It is estimated that the penetration among all age groups will all increase through 2018.

In China rural areas, the internet penetration rate is rising. As of December 2013, internet users in rural China were 177 million; and 149 million users were mobile Internet users. The internet usage with mobile phone accounted for 84.6% in rural China, which had 5% higher than in cities.

Also read: China Mobile Internet Statistics 2014

China internet users will exceed 643.6 million by end of 2014, estimated by eMarketer. The penetration is high among young adults. 80% of China internet users between 18 to 34 years old use internet every month.

China internet users an average own 1.9 devices per person.

Most internet users in China go online everyday. This is true across all age ranges, with 64% of Internet users 55 or older coming online everyday.

Smartphone internet users in China use their smartphones for a range of everyday activities.

52% of Chinese respondents made their last clothing/ footwear purchase online – one of the highest rates the world. The 3 most popular online shopping news apps were Meilishuo, Mogujie and Koudai in September.

iResearch estimates China mobile shopping market is going to exceed RMB800 billion (US$129.7 billion) this year, 30% of total total online shopping transactions.

59% of respondents in China researched their last purchase both online and offline.

1 in 3 of Chinese smartphone users used their device during their last purchase.

Chinese respondents frequently research online and then buy offline – this is particularly the case for car insurance and TV sets.

Most Chinese respondents watch online video to be entertained or inspired. In Q3 2014, China online video market reached RMB6.82 billion (US$1.11 billion) with increase of 9.3% QoQ, and it is still showing great power in China.

1 in 3 respondents in China watched their last online video with someone else. This was usually their partner.

55% of Chinese respondents were fully focused on the last online video they watched.

Online video is often watched while commuting/ travelling in China.

Also read: China Mobile Internet Market in Q3 2014

Here are 14 charts selected from iResearch annual report of China internet. Our selection may help you understand the development and status of China internet better.

Internet Economy

The scale of China internet economy hit 600.41 billion Yuan (USD 99 billion), maintaining a fast increase. Transaction of mobile segments such as mobile search and mobile payment skyrocketed in 2013.

Mobile Internet

The market size of China mobile internet kept a considerable growth rate. Mobile netizen will surpass PC netizen to make mobile the main internet terminal device.

E-Commerce

China mobile shopping market transaction reached 167.64 billion (USD 27.459 billion) in 2013 with fast growing penetration. Mobile Taobao, Jingdong and Tencent ECC continued to lead the mobile shopping market.

Payment

A new upsurge of third-party payment was coming owing to the in-depth cooperation with traditional finance. The GMV (gross merchandise volume) of mobile payment exploded in 2013. There was an intense competition for reverse-O2O (an offline to online model by reversing online to offline) market between companies.

Online Advertising

The market size was predicted to reach 110 billion Yuan(USD 18.14 billion). In the same period,the market size of search advertising had a YoY growth rate of 34.9%.

Online Game

The mobile client was predicted to take a 20.6% market share, surpassing browser game in 2014. Android accounted for 53.2% of mobile game market, followed by iOS with 44.4%.

Online Video

The online video market maintained rapid growth in 2013, and was expected to reach 36.6 billion Yuan in 2017.

GlobalWebIndex data showed that 65% of netizen worldwide accessed internet via mobile phone, while the percentage was even higher in specific country-China had 83% mobile internet penetration with approximately 383 million netizens.

China had the highest tablet internet penetration as well, reaching 39% in Q4 2013.

In tablet and mobile phone markets, notably there were several burgeoning internet markets in the top 10 lists. However, developed market such as Sweden ranked the fifth in mobile internet, and tablet usage in USA and UK were quite common. These data once again indicated portable internet access devices were rapidly accepted by burgeoning markets.