China has more than 900 mln internet audio-and-video users

CHENGDU -- The number of internet audio-and-video users in China reached 901 million as of June, covering 95.8 percent of all internet users in the country, according to a new report.

The research report on the development of China's internet audio-and-video industry was released Monday at the 8th China Internet Audio & Video Convention, held in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu.

Amid the COVID-19 epidemic, more internet users have turned to online sources for recreation, leading to further growth in the number of internet audio-and-video users, the report said.

The number of short-video users hit 818 million in June, with an average time of 110 minutes spent on short-video apps per person each day, surpassing that of instant messaging services, the report said.

Zhou Jie, executive deputy secretary-general of the China Netcasting Services Association, said short-video services have expanded to cover various fields, such as news and education, rather than just serving as entertainment.

E-commerce livestreaming is the fastest-growing internet application in 2020, said the report. The number of internet livestreaming service users in China reached 562 million in June, with that of e-commerce livestreaming hitting 309 million. E-commerce livestreaming has played an important role in poverty alleviation and disaster relief, according to the report.