By Luanne Teoh on 10-29-2011

We came across some staggering numbers on China’s digital landscape for internet, mobile and social media by BBH Asia Pacific Data Snapshot Series 2011.

The amazing part of all this is the continued growth spurt with no end in sight. Here are some of the numbers:

Digital

• There are 457,000,000 internet users in China.
• Every month, China’s web users grows by 10,000,000 users.
• 58% of internet users are under 30 years old.
• 56% of internet users are male.
• 88% access the web from home.
• 98% broadband penetration amongst internet users.
• Average time spent online daily is 150 minutes.
• Users between 18-27 spend 5 hours everyday on email and web.
• 87% use the internet and watch TV at the same time.
• 58% of internet users spend 3 hours daily online vs 17% of internet users spend 3 hours daily watching TV.
• Internet users spend an average of 4 hours streaming music or videos.
• 2010 saw US$60 billion in transactions on Taobao — an auction and shopping site.

Mobile

• There are 879,000,000 mobile subscribers in China.
• 66% of users access the web through their cell phones.
• 2.7 billion was the average number of SMS sent daily on February 2011.
• 70% of Chinese say they can’t live without their mobile phones.
• There are 303,000,000 mobile internet users in China — almost total the population of the U.S.
• 2 out of 3 mobile users use instant messenger apps.
• 40% of web users are content creators — that’s twice the rate compared to the U.S.

Social Media

• There are 235,000,000 social media users — a 33% growth over 2010.
• There are 636,000,000 registered users on QQ — China’s most popular instant messenger service and almost the size of Facebook’s worldwide audience.
• 481,000,000 registered users on Qzone — most people have more than one profile.
• 92% of social media users visit social media sites at least 3 times a week.
• Half of social media users are in their 20s.
• 27% have created profiles on more than 5 social media sites.
• 87% of social media users have “friended” or follow brands.
• 77% believe that social media presence makes a brand more attractive.
• There are 295,000,000 bloggers in China.
• 81% of Chinese youth check online comments before making a purchase decision.
• There 304,000,000 gamers in China — that’s more than twice the population of Russia.
• Estimated total value of virtual goods in 2009 is US$ 5 billion.

From these numbers alone, it is not surprising that Chinese internet companies wanting to expand their horizons are coming into the U.S. aggressively to list on the stock exchanges as most of them are already profitable. There were 41 Chinese IPOs in the U.S. in 2010 alone.

In the opposite direction, U.S companies want to tap into the digital market of China’s insatiable consumers. This year saw IBM, Microsoft, Oracle securing partnerships with Chinese companies to introduce its products.

Take a look at the full report here of China’s digital landscape

Data courtesy of BBH Asia Pacific Data Snapshot Series 2011.

Image courtesy of Baiduplanet.

About Luanne Teoh

Luanne is a senior correspondent for BizTechDay focused on Small Business Tech, Mobile and China based in San Francisco. Apart from a keen interest in technology, Luanne is also and avid explorer of the globe, cultures and people.

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