The latest data from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reveals the country's internet population which has now surpassed the 800 million mark.
Citing data from CNNIC, the Bloomberg report indicates that the total number of Internet users in China is now numbered at 802 million. In perspective, this is more than the population of Japan, Russia, Mexico and the United States combined. The US, in its case, has around 300 million net users.
Estimates from the agency further point out that almost 30 million Chinese web users came online for the first time in Q2 of 2018. This implies that the growth of Internet culture in the country is rapidly expanding at more than 50 percent rate per year.
CNNIC serves under the Ministry of Industry and Information. The agency also operates and manages China's registry of domain names, including the .cn country code.
This new statistics further divulge a plethora of information suggesting the ever-increasing use of the Internet in the mainland. For example, CNNIC said that 98 percent of the total web-user population or 788 million people are using the web through their mobile phones.
This is a clear manifestation of China's surging rate of smartphone use among its constituents. With the availability of affordable yet quality mobile phones in the market, it is now easier for an average consumer to gain access to the service.
Moreover, 21 percent of the entire Chinese web users also use the internet for online banking purposes where 71 percent of which were done to make online payments or complete e-commerce transactions.
Meanwhile, 74.1 percent of the total population access the internet to use short video applications such as ByteDance's Douyin app. Outside of China, this is known as TikTok.
Access to different transportation services also comprised the overall statistics where 30.6 percent of which are using the internet via bike sharing apps like Ofo and Mobike; 43.2 percent used for taxi-booking apps such as Didi and Grab; while 37.3 percent of them used the net to make bus and train ride reservations.
Analysts think that this apparent growth does bring a lot of advantages but it takes along with it some potential problems.
According to a statement made by China Market Research Group's Shaun Rein, which is cited over at South China Morning Post, the expansion of internet access is like a "double-edged sword."
"It's good for internet companies, and good for the government if they want to control the population better, but it also means there are more risks," Rein said. Risks may involve the proliferation of illegal internet gambling, pornography, and the sale of drugs, all of which is abhorred by the current Chinese government.
