China's internet users nearly hit 1 billion

02/05/2021

The number of China's internet users hit 989 million by the end of 2020, an increase of 85.4 million from March 2020, according to a report on China's internet development released Feb.3, 2021.

The country's internet availability rate was raised by 5.9 percentage points from March to 70.4 percent, said the statistical report from the China Internet Network Information Center. A total of 986 million Chinese used mobile phones to surf the internet, accounting for 99.7 percent of the online population, said the report. Around 309 million, or 31.3 percent of the online population, live in rural areas, an increase of 54.71 million from March. Meanwhile, the internet availability rate in rural areas neared 56 percent, up 9.7 percentage points from March, according to the report.

China had 989 million internet users by the end of last year, among which 21 percent were students, according to the latest statistical report on China's internet development.

In second place were individual business owners and freelancers (16.9 percent) followed by migrant workers (12.7 percent).

The internet connection rate in primary and middle schools has reached 99.7 percent, the report said, adding that as of December 2020, e-learning users totaled 342 million, accounting for 34.6 percent of China's total internet population.