This Day, That Year: June 4

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On June 4, 1998, 1 million Chinese were connected to the internet and the number has grown steadily as seen in the item on July 15, 1998, from China Daily.

By the end of last year, China had 829 million netizens, or the world's largest online population, figures from the China Internet Network Information Center showed.

The internet has changed people's lives. It is seen by authorities as a new engine of economic growth.

In 2015, the government unveiled the Internet Plus strategy to integrate mobile internet, cloud computing and big data with traditional industries.

The Ministry of Commerce said in its 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) that the value of e-commerce transactions is expected to reach 43.8 trillion yuan ($6.55 trillion) by 2020, with an annual growth rate of about 15 percent.

Last year, about 583 million people used mobile payments in China, up 10.7 percent year-on-year.

Moreover, approximately 600 million people used online payment in 2018, up 13 percent from 2017.

Obviously, China has been ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the world when it comes to mobile payment adoption. Six out of 10 of the world's mobile payment users live in China, according to market research company eMarketer's recent estimates.

The domestic payment duopoly, Alibaba and Tencent, have set their sights on markets outside of China, including Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. Operated by Ant Financial Services, an affiliate of Alibaba, Alipay is available in 54 countries and regions, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and even at Santa's village in Finland.