CNNIC report: As of June 2025, the number of Internet users in China reached 1.123 billion, with an Internet penetration rate of 79.7%.

On July 21st, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released the 56th "Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") in Beijing. The "Report" shows that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's Internet construction has achieved significant accomplishments. The new type of information infrastructure is accelerating its deployment, the Internet basic resources continue to enrich, providing a solid support for the popularization of the Internet and the development of the digital economy. As of June, the number of Internet users in China reached 1.123 billion, with an Internet penetration rate of 79.7%, and an increasing number of groups are sharing the benefits of digital development. Emerging markets are flourishing, artificial intelligence technologies are accelerating their application, global influence is constantly increasing, and technological innovation is leading to high-quality economic and social development. Stable foundation of basic resources, quantity and quality upgrading of infrastructure The "Report" shows that in the first half of 2025, the stock of basic resources has remained stable, the information infrastructure continues to be solidified, and the mobile Internet access traffic continues to grow, empowering the high-quality development of the information and communication industry to a new level. Firstly, the stock of Internet basic resources lays a solid foundation. As of June, the total number of domain names in China was 32.62 million, including 20.85 million for the national top-level domain ".CN"; the number of IPv6 addresses was 68,567/32. Secondly, the information infrastructure continues to be solidified. In January, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on launching the pilot work of 10-gigabit optical network, proposing to carry out the pilot work of 10-gigabit optical network to gradually deploy applications from technical pilots; the 10th anniversary of the implementation of universal telecommunications services, as of the end of June, the total number of 5G base stations in China has reached 4.55 million, and over the past decade, it has promoted the realization of "broadband coverage in every village and 5G coverage in every township", with over 90% of administrative villages having 5G coverage; the number of mobile users' internet traffic has achieved double-digit growth for six consecutive months. Internet inclusiveness deepens, silver-haired and rural groups share the benefits of development The "Report" shows that as of June, the number of Internet users in China reached 1.123 billion, with an Internet penetration rate of 79.7%; the number of silver-haired netizens aged 60 and above reached 161 million, and the number of rural netizens reached 322 million, maintaining a steady growth trend. Firstly, the silver-haired economy is rapidly developing, further empowering the widespread use of the Internet. The government attaches great importance to enabling the elderly to enjoy the benefits of the digital dividend, and the Internet penetration rate among the elderly in China has reached 52.0%. The 2025 "Government Work Report" proposes to vigorously develop the silver-haired economy, and in June, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Directory for the Promotion of Smart Health and Elderly Care Products and Services (2024 Edition)", promoting the deep sharing of information technology development results among the silver-haired group. Secondly, the development of industries that enrich the counties, and the Internet lights up a new digital life for rural residents. The Internet empowers rural revitalization with significant results, with the Internet penetration rate in rural areas of China reaching 69.2%, a 1.9 percentage point increase from December 2024. New digital tourism models continue to emerge, expanding new channels for rural residents' digital employment and income increase, with a 52% year-on-year increase in rural tourism product bookings in March; the high-quality development of rural circulation, with the proportion of national express delivery services to rural areas reaching 30% in the first quarter, and the number of county-level life service consumption orders increasing by 42.1% year-on-year. The momentum of digital entertainment going global remains strong, integrating offline to enhance development vitality The "Report" shows that in the first half of 2025, China's digital entertainment sector continued to develop both domestically and internationally, continuously exporting excellent cultural values to the world, and expanding the integration with offline, adding new dynamics to the domestic cultural and tourism market. Firstly, the popularity of online literature going global continues to rise, becoming an innovative carrier for Chinese culture to "go global". In 2024, the market size of online literature going global exceeded 5 billion yuan, nurturing 460,000 overseas online writers, with an overseas user base exceeding 350 million, covering over 200 countries and regions globally, with the Japanese market experiencing a 180% surge in user base, becoming the fastest-growing emerging market globally. Secondly, online games going global are ushering in new development opportunities. In April, the State Council issued the "Comprehensive Pilot Program for Accelerating the Expansion of the Service Industry", clarifying that "the development of the game 'going global' business, and the layout of the entire industry chain from IP creation to game production, distribution, and overseas operations" is included in the national strategic project. Thirdly, the empowering effect of online videos on offline culture is gradually emerging. Network dramas are deeply integrated with tourism, such as canal-themed network dramas and tourism forming a coordinated matrix, driving a 40% increase in total tourists in cities along canals and a 215% year-on-year increase in homestay bookings. Short-video platforms integrate local government resources, platform traffic, and merchant resources to build a consumption closed loop for Wuxi Online Offline Communication Information Technology Co., Ltd., bringing new customers to more physical businesses. The number of generative artificial intelligence products is growing, and application scenarios are continuously deepening The "Report" shows that in the first half of 2025, generative artificial intelligence products achieved comprehensive progress from technology to application, with a rapid increase in product quantity and continuous expansion of application scenarios. Firstly, China's influence in the field of artificial intelligence has significantly increased. As of March, a total of 346 generative artificial intelligence services had been filed with the National Internet Information Office. Chinese artificial intelligence products have attracted global attention, with the DeepSeek platform exceeding 30 million active users in less than 20 days since its launch, topping the application market in 140 countries and regions around the world, becoming the fastest-growing generative artificial intelligence application globally. Secondly, generative artificial intelligence technology continues to penetrate deeply into specific application scenarios. In terms of users, as of June, the proportion of users using generative artificial intelligence products to answer questions is the highest, reaching 80.9%. In terms of the industry, in 2024, the scale of China's artificial intelligence industry exceeded 700 billion yuan, maintaining a growth rate of over 20% for multiple years. Domestic artificial intelligence products have not only made breakthroughs in areas such as multi-billion parameter scale and multimodal capabilities, but also deeply integrated with scenes such as office collaboration, inclusive education, industrial design, and content creation, building an intelligent application ecosystem covering multiple fields. This article is selected from the China Internet Network Information Center, GMTEight Editor: Chen Wenfang.