According to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the number of internet users in China reached 668 million by end of June 2015. The country added 19 million new internet users in the past six months.

Further, about 90 per cent of the users in China access internet through their mobile phones.  Among the total internet users, 27.9 per cent or 186 million are rural residents, an increase of 8 million. Most of the online users are aged between 20 and 29 and are mainly students and freelancers.

CNNIC states that the popularity of smartphones in China has gone up due to a fall in prices, making smartphones more affordable. Meanwhile, the growth of applications useful in daily lives has also resulted in more number of users going online. For example, following a boom in the stock market, the number of people using mobile applications to trade shares increased by 50 per cent in the first half of 2015 to 5.6 million.