How does the Internet stimulate the ＂new＂ power of economy and society？ -a perspective of the 53rd Statistical Report on the Development of Internet in China.

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 22ndQuestion: How does the Internet stimulate the "new" power of the economy and society? -a perspective of the 53rd Statistical Report on the Development of Internet in China.

Wang Sibei and Lin Long

On 22nd, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released the 53rd Statistical Report on Internet Development in China. According to the report, as of December 2023, the number of netizens in China reached 1.092 billion, and the Internet penetration rate reached 77.5%. The construction of network infrastructure continues to strengthen, new consumption continues to grow, the network benefits the people and more people share the fruits of Internet development …

Behind the data, what digital new lives do China’s 1.092 billion netizens have? How does the Internet stimulate the "new" power of economy and society?

New consumption potential generate

The report points out that in 2023, China’s Internet application will continue to develop, new consumption potential will be generate, and the digital economy will continue to develop, which will boost China’s economic recovery.

Zhang Xiao, deputy director of China Internet Network Information Center, said that in 2023, digital consumption will achieve high-quality development. Online consumer applications such as online shopping and e-commerce live broadcast continued their growth momentum, and the user scale increased by over 60 million compared with 2022. The annual online retail sales reached 15.4 trillion yuan, up 11% year-on-year, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years.

While online shopping consumption is growing well, new consumption growth points are also emerging.

According to the report, recreational tourism, which is characterized by immersive tourism and cultural tourism, is becoming a consumption growth point actively cultivated by various places. By December 2023, the number of online travel booking users reached 509 million, an increase of 86.29 million compared with December 2022, with a growth rate of 20.4%.

At the same time, new consumption growth points such as "trendy" consumption of domestic products, green consumption and smart product consumption are constantly forming. Li Mingtao, chief e-commerce expert of China International E-commerce Research Center, said that according to statistics, users who have purchased domestic goods online account for 58.3% of the total online shopping users; Users who have bought green products online account for 29.7% of the total online shopping users; Users who have purchased smart products such as smart home appliances and wearable devices account for 21.8% of the total online shopping users.

Experts said that the emerging new online consumption formats, new models and new hotspots are becoming a trend of consumption upgrading in China.

The digital divide continues to bridge.

"As of December 2023, the number of netizens in China reached 1.092 billion, an increase of 24.8 million compared with December 2022. The number of rural netizens reached 326 million, an increase of 17.88 million compared with December 2022. " Liu Yulin, director of China Internet Network Information Center and secretary of the Party Committee, said that China has continuously accelerated the popularization of information services, narrowed the digital divide, persisted in safeguarding and improving people’s livelihood in development, and let more people share the fruits of Internet development.

On the one hand, the construction of network infrastructure has been continuously promoted, and the gap between urban and rural Internet access has been further narrowed. According to the report, China’s rural network infrastructure construction has been deepened, and various application scenarios have been continuously enriched, which has promoted the steady growth of rural Internet penetration rate. As of December 2023, the difference in Internet penetration rate between urban and rural areas was 16.8%, which was 4.4 percentage points lower than that in December 2022.

On the other hand, the development of digital technology also makes public services more convenient and inclusive.

According to the report, in 2023, the number of online car users and Internet medical users in China increased significantly, with an increase of 90.57 million and 51.39 million respectively compared with December 2022, with growth rates of 20.7% and 14.2% respectively. The continuous development of smart travel and smart medical care has made netizens’ digital lives happier.

"China’s online government services have accelerated coverage, and the number of online government service users has reached 973 million, an increase of over 47 million. The national integrated government service platform has been basically completed, the top-level design of digital government is more perfect, and the system framework is more mature and complete. " Liu Yulin said.

The supply of high-quality online video content is abundant.

According to Zhou Jie, Deputy Secretary-General of China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association, the online video industry will be a bright spot in the development of Internet industry in China in 2023.

According to the report, as of December 2023, the number of online video users in China reached 1.067 billion, an increase of 36.13 million compared with December 2022.

"Among the 24.8 million new Internet users, 37.8% used online video applications for the first time, which was 21.7 percentage points higher than the second-ranked instant messaging." Zhou Jie believes that as the most attractive Internet application for new netizens, China’s online video development environment has been continuously optimized, and the content supply has been continuously enriched, pushing the development of the industry to a new level.

"In the past year, online video content represented by micro-short dramas has flourished, achieving’ quantity increase and quality increase’." Changqing Wang, director of the Internet Development Research Department of China Internet Network Information Center, said that online video platforms have also launched quality support programs to encourage the creation of high-quality miniseries, and many high-quality miniseries have been recognized by the audience.