Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The number of internet users in China hit 1.1 billion by December 2024, up 16 million from the previous year, according to an industrial report on the country’s internet development released on Friday, Xinhua reported.

This milestone highlights the vast potential of China’s digital economy and its key role in driving technological innovation.

The report by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) revealed that internet penetration in China reached 78.6 percent in 2024, 30 years after the country was fully connected to the global internet.

China now boasts the world’s largest internet infrastructure, equipped with advanced technologies, fueling the rapid growth of its digital economy.

By the end of last year, the number of online payment users in China had surpassed 1 billion, while 974 million Chinese people had engaged in online shopping, an increase of 59.5 million people from the end of 2023, according to the report.

"China continues to lead the world in both online retail sales and mobile payment penetration," the report stated.

Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed that in 2024, the country’s total online retail sales reached 15.52 trillion yuan (about 2.15 trillion U.S. dollars), a 7.2 percent increase from the previous year. In particular, online retail sales of physical goods rose 6.5 percent year on year to 13.08 trillion yuan, accounting for 26.8 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

Online tourism services, a vital component of China’s rapidly recovering tourism market, has also experienced significant growth, driven by the accelerated integration of the tourism industry with the digital economy.

As of December 2024, the number of users booking travel online reached 548 million, an increase of 39.35 million from a year ago, representing 49.5 percent of the total internet user base, as shown in the report. ■