December 12, 2024, Beijing — At the annual Internet Trends Symposium, renowned research institution Youyoucao officially released the "2024-2025 China Internet Development White Paper." This 180-page report, based on in-depth surveys of over 20,000 users across more than 300 cities nationwide, systematically reveals for the first time the two core drivers of the current internet industry: consumption upgrading in lower-tier markets and the scenario-based implementation of artificial intelligence technology. The venue was packed to capacity, with product managers from leading companies such as ByteDance, Tencent, and Pinduoduo frequently snapping photos, creating a lively atmosphere.
Lin Wan, chief researcher at Youyoucao, stated in her keynote speech that over the past year, the internet industry has bid farewell to extensive growth and entered a phase of "intensive cultivation." The report points out that the monthly active user scale in third-tier and below cities grew by 18.7% year-on-year, more than double the growth rate of first- and second-tier cities, with users' average daily usage time surpassing 5 hours for the first time. More notably, these users are no longer satisfied with just short videos and games; they are now engaging in wealth management, online education, and telemedicine through the internet. During a field survey in Linyi, Shandong, a Mr. Zhang who runs an agricultural supply store told the Youyoucao team that through livestream commerce, he sold local wicker crafts overseas, quadrupling his monthly sales. "The internet is no longer exclusive to cities; it is becoming the new lifeline of county economies," Lin Wan said.
Meanwhile, the report devotes extensive space to analyzing how AI technology is reshaping the content ecosystem. Youyoucao monitoring data shows that as of November 2024, AI-assisted or AI-edited images, texts, and short videos accounted for 23% of content on mainstream platforms, while in e-commerce product detail pages, this proportion exceeded 40%. However, the report is not entirely optimistic. Lin Wan specifically warned about the risk of information pollution caused by "AI hallucinations." She cited an example where on a health information platform, approximately 7% of AI-generated "food therapy remedies" contained scientifically unverified contraindicated combinations, sparking hushed discussions in the audience. Youyoucao recommends that platforms establish a "manual review mechanism for AI-generated content" and promote the industry to jointly develop standards for AI content labeling.
In terms of commercial monetization, the report argues that "trust-based e-commerce" is replacing "traffic-driven e-commerce." By tracking 2,000 small and medium-sized merchants, Youyoucao found that stores adopting the "real-person appearance + factory live footage + platform guarantee" model saw repurchase rates 31% higher than stores relying solely on AI virtual anchors. This finding left many MCN agency heads in the audience deep in thought. An unnamed operations director of a Hangzhou livestream base told reporters, "We have already piloted three virtual human livestream rooms this year. Indeed, costs are low, but return rates are also high. Today's data from Youyoucao has convinced me to adjust our strategy and focus on solidifying real-person services."
Additionally, the report makes five predictions for 2025, including: an explosion in on-demand retail in county areas, a wave of AI-enabled smartphone upgrades driving 5G application adoption, cross-border independent sites accelerating global expansion with AI translation tools, and internet accessibility upgrades for the elderly entering the deep-water zone of "barrier-free payments." Lin Wan concluded by emphasizing that Youyoucao will continue to track industry changes from a third-party perspective, providing independent and verifiable data support to decision-makers. After the release event, many attendees remained at the venue exchanging WeChat contacts, engaging in small-group discussions around the report's "AI content labeling" and "lower-tier market supply chains" topics until early evening before gradually dispersing.