Ye Maochao (L) and his livestreaming team member promote tea products at Wuyishan Zhumeng Qianlan ecological tea cooperative in Wuyishan, east China's Fujian Province, Aug. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)
BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of internet users in China had surpassed 1 billion as of June 2021, a report showed on Friday.
According to the 48th China Statistical Report on Internet Development, the number of internet users totaled 1.011 billion and the internet penetration rate reached 71.6 percent in the country as of June.
The internet penetration rate in China's rural areas rose 3.3 percentage points from December 2020 to 59.2 percent in June, said the report.
With better access to the internet, livestreaming on social media platforms emerged as an effective way to help farmers sell agricultural products, the report noted.
The increasing internet access has contributed to the formation of the largest digital society in the world, the report said.
The first half of 2021 witnessed steady expansion of personal internet applications, said the report, highlighting that the user bases of apps for online shopping, online medical services and online office work grew at rates of over 10 percent. ■
