中国互联网络发展状况统计报告（CNNIC42) —EChinaGov
What happened: There are now 802 million internet users in China and the internet penetration rate has reached 57.7%, according to the new half-year report from China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC). China added 29.68 million internet users in the first half of 2018, an increase of 3.8% compared to figures at the end of 2017. As of June 2018, 71% of the total number of people online are shopping and paying online, a higher proportion than last year.
Why it’s important: The report shows other interesting figures which have all grown in the past six months. The use of online financial services jumped more than 30% in the past 6 months with 21% of internet users now using some financial service. The number of people who watch short videos reached 74.1%. Ride-hailing users reached 43.2%, while bike rental users climbed to 30.6% of the total number of internet users, with an increase of 20.8% and 11% respectively. Another interesting number is that 42.1% of internet users obtained government services through Alipay or WeChat city service platform.