China’s booming internet economy gathers pace on rising mobile connectivity and innovation, says report
With the world’s largest number of internet users, internet penetration is only at 52 per cent, indicating room for growth
China’s internet boom is likely to gather pace on the back of the mainland’s widespread mobile connectivity, the ability of China’s biggest internet players to innovate quickly and its massive number of internet users, according to the Boston Consulting Group.
With 710 million internet users – the world’s largest number – who collectively spent almost US$1 trillion online last year, China’s internet economy was booming with no signs of growth slowing down any time soon, said a BCG report, Decoding the Chinese Internet.
“China’s internet landscape is fast changing and volatile. Ongoing innovation in business models, applications, and content leads to intense competition,” said François Candelon, a BCG senior partner and co-author of the report.
The report highlighted that success in the Chinese market requires companies to be able to localise their offerings for consumers, respond quickly to the volatile internet landscape, and successfully integrate both online and offline channels.
Ongoing innovation in business models, applications, and content leads to intense competition
The strong internet ecosystem built by big technology players in China like Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and JD.com has also raised the barriers of entry for foreign companies to compete successfully in the market.
Although China currently has the world’s highest number of internet users, the report suggested that the country is poised for further online growth.