China’s short video and live streaming sector still growing, with more than 15 million hosts, as online shopping fuels demand

The number of professional short video hosts and live streamers in the world’s largest internet market totalled 15.08 million by December last year
That expansion shows how short video and live-streaming campaigns have boosted online retail sales on the mainland

China technology

Xinmei Shen

Published: 6:00pm, 28 Mar 2024

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China’s massive short video and live streaming sector has continued to expand, with the number of professional hosts surpassing 15 million, even though viewer numbers nationwide have reached a plateau, according to a report.

The number of professional short video hosts and live streamers in the world’s largest internet market totalled 15.08 million at the end of December last year, the state-run China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA) said in a report published on Wednesday.

That expansion shows how short video and live-streaming campaigns have boosted online retail sales, as popular influencers and small merchants peddle everything from lipsticks, food and beverages to smartphones and cars.

The CNSA estimated this e-commerce segment was already worth hundreds of billions of dollars on the mainland. The state-run body reports to the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), China’s broadcasting regulator.

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Last year, 71.2 per cent of users surveyed by the CNSA said that they made online purchases based on viewing short videos and live streams, compared to only 42.7 per cent in 2022, the report said.

The CNSA said the same 2023 survey also found that more than 40 per cent of internet users considered short videos and live streams as their “primary consumption channel”.

There are now more than 660,800 companies on the mainland that run online video services as their primary business, according to the CNSA report.

Sales from live-streaming e-commerce jumped 58.9 per cent in the first 10 months of 2023 over the same period in 2022, reaching 2.2 trillion yuan (US$304 billion) and accounting for 18.1 per cent of all online shopping in China, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

More than 40 per cent of mainland internet users considered short videos and live streams as their “primary consumption channel”, according to a 2023 survey by the state-run China Netcasting Services Association. Photo: Shutterstock

In spite of the broad popularity of influencers in internet shopping campaigns on the mainland, the number of online video users has already plateaued, according to the CNSA.

It estimated that there were 1.074 billion users of online video apps and other video services – about 98.3 per cent of the country’s total internet population – at the end of December last year, which showed a modest gain from 1.04 billion in 2022.

Still, the number of online video service users in China’s rural areas has been growing at a faster pace than those based in cities, according to the CNSA. It said 98 per cent of rural internet users subscribed to online video services at the end of December last year.

In 2022 and 2023, rural users of such platforms rose 12.6 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively. By contrast, users in cities grew just 2.1 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively, in the same two-year period.

Annual earnings of top China influencers exceed net worth of some Hollywood A-listers

The popularity of short-video and live-streaming retail campaigns has also made the sector a target of increased state scrutiny.

In November last year, an article published by the People’s Daily – the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party – called for tighter oversight of live-streaming e-commerce, which it blamed for creating “chaos”.

Instances of misconduct in live streaming, from fraudulent advertising to misleading pricing, should be addressed and punished for the sake of the sector’s healthy and sustained growth, the People’s Daily article said.

China’s new live-streaming guidelines, jointly issued by the NRTA and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in June 2022, include 31 banned behaviours and requirements for influencers to have relevant qualifications to discuss certain topics, such as law, finance, medicine and education.

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