(ECNS) -- The number of paid memberships on China's online video platforms reached 347 million in 2018 as the market continued to expand rapidly, according to a report released on Tuesday at Internet Film and Television Summit, part of the Shanghai International Film and TV Festival.
Lu Di, director of the Center for Audio-visual Communication Research at Peking University, said the number of online video users totaled 612 million, accounting for 73.9 percent of the total Internet population in China.
Since 2015, the online video market has expanded rapidly, reaching 187.13 billion yuan in 2018, tripling in size in three years.
The report said user willingness to pay for watching online videos has also increased significantly. Income brought by paid subscribers accounted for 34.5 percent of revenue among online platforms last year.
Arrival of the 5G era and application of technologies such as VR will further expand market scope as online videos make breakthroughs and bring fresh experiences to viewers.
