As of June, the number of streaming service users reached 514 million, accounting for 72.4 percent of China's Internet population, according to the 2016 China Online Streaming Development Study Report, released by China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA).
The 2016 report says watching video online has become the primary form of online entertainment in China, tailed by online gaming and reading literature.
It also shows 35.5 percent of streaming users paid for content this year, rising 18.5 percentage points year-on-year. It is the fastest annual growth in recent years. Most of the paid users are monthly subscribers.
Zhou Jie, deputy secretary of the CNSA, said the trend suggests good commercial potential of the sector.
China's online video market was valued at 24.3 billion yuan (US$3.5 billion) in 2015, according to independent Chinese data company Analysys.
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