Short-video hosts and live streamers surpass 15m
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.
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 drinks to smartphones and cars.
The CNSA, which reports to the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), the broadcasting regulator, estimated this e-commerce segment was already worth hundreds of billions of dollars in China.
Last year, 71.2 per cent of users surveyed by the agency said they made online purchases based on viewing short videos and live streams, compared with 42.7 per cent in 2022, the report said.
The CNSA said the same 2023 survey also found 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 in China that run online video services as their primary business, according to the report.
Sales from live-streaming e-commerce jumped by 58.9 per cent in the first 10 months of last year over the same period in 2022, reaching 2.2 trillion yuan (HK$2.3 billion) and accounting for 18.1 per cent of all online shopping in the country, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
Despite the popularity of influencers in internet shopping campaigns in China, the number of online video users has levelled off, according to the CNSA.
It estimated there were 1.07 billion users of online video apps and other video services, representing about 98.3 per cent of the country’s total internet population, at the end of December last year, a modest increase from 1.04 billion in 2022.
Still, the number of online video service users in rural areas has been growing at a faster pace than those based in cities, according to the CNSA.
The association 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 by 12.6 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively. But users in cities grew by 2.1 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively, in the same period.
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 People’s Daily 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 healthy and sustained growth of the sector, the People’s Daily article said.