Statistical report on Internet development in China(January 2017)

Features of Application

Basic Resources

The number of .CN domain names registered exceeds 20 million, ranking No 1 among global ccTLDs.

By the end of December 2016, the number of .CN domain names had reached 20.61 million, increasing by 25.9 percent year on year and accounting for 48.7 percent of all domain names of China; the number of“.中国”domain names had totaled 474,000, up 34.4 percent annually.

Personal Application

Up to December 2016, China’s Internet users amounted to 731 million, with an Internet penetration rate of 53.2 percent, 3.1 percentage points higher than the world average and 7.6 percentage points higher than the Asian average.  In 2016, China had 42.99 million new netizens, with an annual growth rate of 6.2 percent. The total number of China's netizens is equivalent to the population
of Europe.

As of the end of 2016 the number of mobile Internet users in China reached 695 million, with an annual growth rate exceeding 10 percent for three consecutive years. More and more individuals used the mobile phone to access the Internet, resulting in the declining use of desktops and laptops. Mobile Internet and offline economy are increasingly interconnected, which promotes the consumption model featuring resource sharing, intelligent devices and diversified scenarios.

As of December 2016, China had 469 million mobile online payment users, an annual growth of 31.2 percent, and the proportion of mobile online payment users increased from 57.7 percent to 67.5 percent. More offline payment is made by means of mobile payment, greatly creating more payment scenarios. 50.3 percent of netizens pay bills through mobile payment when shopping at a physical store.

The number of online car-hailing users reached 168 million, representing a half-year increase of 46.16 million, or 37.9 percent when compared with that in the first half of 2016. Online car-hailing service is a typical service of sharing economy, playing an important role in efficiently using vehicle resources to meet travel needs of users. It has entered the period of standardized development, with related policies released.

Up to December 2016, 32.5 percent of China's netizens has practiced online philanthropies, registering 238 million. New Internet-based models for public welfare include donation, crowdfunding and social network fundraising, making charitable donations more transparent, convenient and diversified.