China has 195 million internet users in rural areas (28% of the country`s total) and 22% of Chinese online shoppers live in townships and villages, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre (CINIC), mobileworldlive.com reports.
The number of rural netizens grew 9.5% in 2015, almost double the rate for urban internet users, and rural online buyers may outnumber urban shoppers within ten years. Alibaba, JD and Suning Electronic are expanding into rural areas as markets in first and second-tier cities become saturated, according to China Daily, the source cites.
In May 2015, the country`s three operators committed to reducing data prices by 20-35% as well as improving network speeds.
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