CNNIC Report: As of June 2025, the number of Internet users in China reached 1,123 billion, and the Internet penetration rate reached 79.7%

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on July 21, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released the 56th “Statistical Report on China's Internet Development” (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”) in Beijing. The “Report” shows that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China made remarkable achievements in Internet construction. New information infrastructure is being deployed at an accelerated pace, and basic Internet resources continue to be abundant, providing solid support for the popularization of the Internet and the digital economy. As of June, the number of netizens in China reached 1,123 billion, and the Internet penetration rate reached 79.7%. More and more groups are sharing the results of digital development. Emerging markets are booming, artificial intelligence technology is being applied at an accelerated pace, global influence is constantly increasing, and scientific and technological innovation is leading high-quality economic and social development.

Basic resources have a solid foundation, and the quantity and quality of infrastructure have risen sharply

The “Report” shows that in the first half of 2025, the amount of basic resources held remained stable, the information infrastructure continued to be consolidated, and mobile Internet access traffic continued to grow, empowering the high-quality development of the information and communication industry to a new level. First, the amount of basic resources available on the Internet has established a firm foundation. As of June, the total number of domain names in China was 32.62 million, of which the number of national top-level domain names “.CN” was 20.85 million; the number of IPv6 addresses was 68,567 blocks/32. Second, the information infrastructure continues to be consolidated. In January, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Notice on Launching the 10,000 Gigabyte Optical Network Pilot Work”, which proposes to carry out the 10 gigabit optical network pilot project to guide the gradual transition from technical pilots to deployment and application; 10 years since the implementation of universal telecom services, the total number of 5G base stations in China reached 4.55 million. In ten years, the proportion of 5G in administrative villages has exceeded 90%; the Internet traffic of mobile users has achieved double-digit growth for 6 consecutive months.

Internet inclusion is being further promoted, and rural communities in Yinfa share in development achievements

According to the “Report”, as of June, the number of netizens in China reached 1,123 million, and the Internet penetration rate reached 79.7%; the number of banking netizens aged 60 and above reached 161 million, and the number of rural netizens reached 322 million, maintaining a steady growth trend. First, the rapid development of the Yinfa economy has enabled the Internet to be further popularized and applied. The government attaches great importance to the elderly enjoying digital dividends. The Internet penetration rate among the elderly in China has reached 52.0%. The 2025 “Report on the Work of the Government” proposed vigorous development of the Yinfa economy. In June, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the “Smart Health Care Products and Services Promotion Catalogue (2024 Edition)” to promote in-depth sharing of the achievements of informatization development among the Yinfa community. The second is the development of rich industries in the county area, and the Internet is lighting up a new digital life for rural residents. The Internet has achieved remarkable results in empowering rural revitalization. The Internet penetration rate in rural areas of China is 69.2%, an increase of 1.9 percentage points over December 2024. New digital cultural tourism models continue to emerge, broadening new channels for rural residents to increase digital employment and income. In March, the number of reservations for rural tourism products increased 52% year on year; rural circulation developed with high quality development. In the first quarter, delivery to rural areas accounted for 30% of the country's express delivery business volume, and the number of consumer orders for lifestyle services in counties across the country increased by 42.1% year on year.

The trend of digital entertainment going overseas continues unabated, integrating offline to enhance development vitality

The “Report” shows that in the first half of 2025, China's digital entertainment sector will develop “internal and external training”, continue to export outstanding cultural values to the world, and continue to expand integration with offline, adding new impetus to the domestic cultural tourism market. First, the popularity of online literature going overseas continues to rise, becoming an innovative vehicle for Chinese culture to “go global.” In 2024, the online literature market will exceed 5 billion yuan, nurture 460,000 overseas online writers, and have more than 350 million overseas users, covering more than 200 countries and regions. Among them, the number of users in the Japanese market surged 180%, making it the fastest growing emerging market in the world. Second, going overseas for online games has ushered in new opportunities for development. In April, the State Council issued the “Comprehensive Pilot Work Plan to Accelerate the Expansion and Opening-up of the Service Industry”, which clearly incorporates “the development of the game overseas business, the layout of the entire industry chain from IP construction to game production, distribution, and overseas operation” into the national strategic project. Third, the empowering effect of online video on offline culture is gradually showing. Internet dramas are deeply integrated with tourism. For example, canal-themed web dramas form a collaborative matrix with tourism, driving a 40% increase in the total number of visitors to cities along the canal, and the number of homestay reservations increased 215% over the same period last year. By integrating local government resources, platform traffic and merchant resources, the short video platform establishes a closed loop of online and offline consumption, bringing new traffic to more physical businesses.

The number of generative artificial intelligence products is rising, and application scenarios are deepening

The “Report” shows that in the first half of 2025, generative artificial intelligence products achieved all-round progress from technology to application. The number of products grew rapidly, and application scenarios continued to expand. First, China's influence in the field of artificial intelligence has increased markedly. As of March, a total of 346 generative artificial intelligence services have been registered at the State Internet Information Office. The emergence of artificial intelligence products in China has attracted global attention. Within 20 days of its launch, DeepSeek surpassed 30 million daily active users, topped the application market in 140 countries and regions, and became the fastest growing generative artificial intelligence application in the world. Second, generative artificial intelligence technology continues to penetrate deep into specific application scenarios. On the user side, as of June, the percentage of users using generative artificial intelligence products to answer questions was the highest, reaching 80.9%. In terms of industry, the scale of China's artificial intelligence industry exceeded 700 billion yuan in 2024, maintaining a growth rate of more than 20% for many years. Domestic artificial intelligence products have not only achieved breakthroughs in 100 billion parameter scale and multi-modal capabilities, but have also been deeply integrated into scenarios such as office collaboration, educational inclusion, industrial design, and content creation, creating an intelligent application ecosystem covering various fields.

This article was edited by China Internet Network Information Center, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Wenfang.