China's netizens pass the 1 billion mark

China had almost 1.08 billion netizens as of June, 11.09 million more than the amount at the end of last year, a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center on Monday showed.

Online platforms providing services relating to videos, car-hailing, trip bookings and literature all witnessed fast growth in the number of users in the first six months of this year, according to the report.

The number of video users rose to 1.04 billion as of June, an increase of 13.80 million from December.

People booking travel services online increased 30.91 million year-on-year and those using the internet to hail vehicles rose 34.92 million, it said.

Zhou Jie, deputy secretary-general of the China Netcasting Services Association, said that the quality of the videos on various platforms had also been optimized, which is important to help build a better online environment.

He also lauded the wide application of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cloud-computing and big data in the film and video production industry, adding that this has contributed to work efficiency.

According to the report, the construction of China's digital infrastructure has also been further accelerated, and about 2.6 million smartphone apps have been provided in the domestic market for users.

Mobile-phone base stations now total 11.29 million across the country, it said.