China: short video reaches more internet users than search
In 2025: messaging 97.2%, short video 95.4%, search engines 69.5%. Shares of internet users aged 6 and over in mainland China, December. Short video is a category, not Douyin alone.
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Shares of internet users aged 6 and over in mainland China, December. Short video is a category, not Douyin alone.
Each bar is one measure’s share on the same percentage scale.
- Messaging % of internet users
2025: 97.2%
- Short video % of internet users
2025: 95.4%
- Search engines % of internet users
2025: 69.5%
Published values from one year, country and source. No category sums or causal conclusions.
Mainland China excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Telephone survey, residents aged 6+; internet users used the internet in the previous six months. Activity percentages use internet users as denominator; generative AI penetration uses total population under CNNIC’s separate definition. Categories overlap. Hours per week are self-reported internet time, not social-media time or device measurements. Short video is not TikTok or Douyin audience. Online-video definition includes micro-dramas from December 2024. June snapshots remain separate; only December snapshots enter annual charts. Published rounding retained. Report 57 states a 25.2pp AI increase in prose, while its chart levels 17.7 → 42.8 imply 25.1pp; chart levels retained. CNNIC telephone survey: mainland China excluding Hong Kong/Macao/Taiwan, residents6+; internet users used internet in previous6months. Percentages below are of internet users, not all residents. See report57 PDF pp73–75 (printed65–67). Values as published, rounded. No causal interpretation of changes.
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