95% of Internet users in China access via mobile

More than half (53.2%) of people in China went online in 2016 - that's 731 million out of a population of around 1.4 billion - a record high. Last year, 42.99 million new Internet users were added, according to a report from the China Internet Network Information Center.

The bulk of new Internet users are those who access through their mobile phones. In fact, a whopping 95.1% of all Internet users in China did so via their mobile device in 2016, up from 90% the previous year. During the past year, the number of people in China who used a mobile device to make payments rose by 31.2% from the previous year to 469 million, or 67.5%, and half of all internet users in the country pay for goods in physical stores with their mobile devices.

The most popular app in China is WeChat with 80% of the country's online population using it on a regular basis. This is followed by Tencent's QQ, Alibaba's Taobao, Baidu Inc's mobile app and Alipay. The expansion of Internet coverage has also helped improve people's living standards and boost e-commerce, says the report, citing the number of Chinese who ordered takeaway online had reached 209 million as of December 2016, an 83.7% YoY increase.

Despite China having the world's largest online population, the country still lags in terms of penetration. In other Asia-Pacific countries, such as Japan and South Korea, penetration is 91% and 86% respectively.

Tags: China, Internet, mobile