China App Market Statistics in 2023
- Last update: 29 May 2023 CET
With a population approaching 1.4 billion people, China is the world’s largest and most lucrative mobile app market. Even more impressive is the fact that nearly 500 million people across the country that Napoleon Bonaparte referred to as the “Sleeping Giant” actively use third-party app stores, with the Android store being by far the most popular. While tech titans like Huawei, Xiaomi, and Alibaba lead the way, other developers, like 360 Mobile Security Limited and PinGuo Inc., have garnered world-wide popularity.
In this article, we will provide a number of detailed app statistics and insights into the China Android app market with focus on apps only. We will cover a number of topics, including: how many Chinese app publishers exist on the Google Play Store, how many apps they have released, and how Chinese apps have performed compared to the global average. The data is aggregated based on address, such that only major app publishers and ones with valid Chinese addresses on the Android market have been considered. Furthermore, all download statistics are estimates.
42matters tracks everything from app meta data, to rankings, to download estimates, to changes in meta information, to SDK usage, to App-ads.txt and more. If you would like to leverage our data into your own product, research or app industry analysis, it can be obtained via our API or File Dumps or our interactive App Market Explorer.
There are more than 2,770 Chinese publishers on Google Play out of all 1,022,715 app publishers. One of the biggest Chinese publishers are BabyBus, Badsnowball Limited, Kidult Lovin, FT Games, Supersonic Studios LTD, Sixcube, Mattel163 Limited, ZPLAY Games, 707 INTERACTIVE: Fun Epic Casual Games, Rejoy Studio . Less than 1% of all app publishers on Google Play are from China. Find the biggest app publishers with our App Market Explorer.
There are more than 10,528 apps from Chinese publishers on Google Play out of the 3,254,143 apps. Apps with most downloads of Chinese publishers are Wang VPN - Fast Secure VPN, Earth 3D Map, 淘宝, 小红书 - 你的生活指南, Alipay, 高德地图, BatChat - Private Messenger, Wang VPN Lite - Fresh Simple, 百度, PixShaft (Pixiv第三方) . Less than 1% of all apps on Google Play are from Chinese publishers. Filter for apps by publisher country with our tool here.
The average rating of 10,528 apps from Chinese publishers on Google Play is 3.56 out of 5 stars. This is less than the overall average rating of all apps of 3.74 stars. Apps from Chinese publishers on Google Play have on average 18,021 ratings. This number is higher than the average number of ratings of all apps, which is 1,666 ratings. Sort by the best rated app or by the app with most ratings directly in our App Market Explorer.
55% of released apps by Chinese publishers are apps and 45% are games. That means the focus is more on apps than on games. Compared to the worldwide market, Chinese publishers focus more on games with 45% of releases compared to all publishers that focus 14% on games. Use our full App Market Explorer to filter for the most successful mobile apps and games.
Apps by Chinese publishers have an average of 3.7m downloads. Overall they get more downloads than the average of all apps which is 230.04k. We offer also more detailed download estimates for any app.
8% of apps by Chinese publishers are paid. That is a higher value of paid apps compared to the overall apps, where 3% are paid. 40% of apps by Chinese publishers include ads. That is a higher value compared to the whole world, where 35% have ads. 20% of apps by Chinese publishers make use of In-App Payments to monetize. That is higher than the average of 4%.
26% of apps of Chinese publishers are available on both Google Play and iTunes. But overall they put less effort in publishing on both stores, compared to the average publisher with 26%. Use our iOS to Android Matching API or Android to iOS Matching API to find the same app across stores.
The following are the top publishers from China that accumulated most downloads.
Xiaomi Inc. is on position 1 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. Xiaomi Inc. is a Chinese electronics company founded in 2010. Headquartered in Beijing, China, they make smartphones, mobile apps, laptops, bags, trimmers, earphones, MI Television, Shoes, fitness bands, and many other products. Xiaomi Inc. has developed and published App Vault, App vault, Mi Home, Mi Remote controller - for TV, STB, AC and more; and more. They own 18 apps that have been downloaded together more than 9.47b+ times.
Shalltry Group is on position 2 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. Shalltry Group is a China-based mobile app developer and distributor. Shalltry Group has developed: Phoenix Browser -Video Download, Private & Fast; XOS Launcher(2019)- Customized,Cool,Stylish; Phone Master - Quick Clean Booster, Battery Cooler; HiOS Launcher(2019)- Fast, Smooth, Stabilize; and more. They own 20 apps that have been downloaded together more than 3.01b+ times.
Huawei Internet Services is on position 3 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. Huawei Internet Services is a subsidiary of the Chinese multinational technology company, Huawei. They provide telecommunications equipment and sell consumer electronics, such as smartphones. Founded in 1987, they are headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Huawei Internet Services has published the apps HiCare, Phone Clone, HUAWEI Video, Huawei Mobile Services, and more. They own 3 apps that have been downloaded together more than 2.61b+ times.
Mi Music is on position 4 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. They own a single app that has been downloaded more than 1.62b+ times.
Mi Video is on position 5 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. They own a single app that has been downloaded more than 1.49b+ times.
UCWeb Singapore Pte. Ltd. is on position 6 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. UCWeb Singapore Pte. Ltd. is a subsidiary of the Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company, Alibaba Group. Founded in 2004, they are a leading provider of mobile Internet software technology and services. UCWeb's mission is to provide better mobile internet experiences to billions of users around the world. UCWeb Singapore Pte. Ltd. has created: UC Browser- Free & Fast Video Downloader, News App, UC Mini- Download Video Status, Movie, Funny Video, and UC Browser Turbo- Fast Download, Secure, Ad Block. They own 3 apps that have been downloaded together more than 1.49b+ times.
Transsion Holdings is on position 7 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. They own 5 apps that have been downloaded together more than 1.45b+ times.
PT. Vivo Mobile Indonesia is on position 8 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. They own a single app that has been downloaded more than 740.39m+ times.
Bytedance Pte. Ltd. is on position 9 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. They own 4 apps that have been downloaded together more than 722.08m+ times.
vivo Co.,Ltd is on position 10 of the biggest Chinese app publishers. They own 2 apps that have been downloaded together more than 713.51m+ times.
The following shows which SDKs are most used by China app publishers. To find out which apps integrate the following SDK use our App Market Explorer. We have also aggregated the worldwide Top Ad Network SDKs and other categories.
52% of apps from Chinese publishers have Google Firebase integrated. In total 4,998 apps. Firebase is a mobile and web application development platform SDK that gives app builders the ability to develop their apps faster, without worrying about infrastructure. It includes functionalities like analytics, databases, messaging and crash reporting so developers can move quickly and focus on their users.
42% of apps from Chinese publishers have OkHttp integrated. In total 4,062 apps. OkHttp is an open source project designed to be an efficient HTTP client. It's also easy to use. OkHttp’s request/response API is designed with fluent builders and immutability. It supports both synchronous blocking calls and async calls with callbacks.
42% of apps from Chinese publishers have gson integrated. In total 3,979 apps. Gson is a Google-developed Java library that app developers can leverage to convert Java Objects into their JSON representation, and vice versa. It works with arbitrary Java objects, including pre-existing objects of which developers do not have the source-code.
40% of apps from Chinese publishers have Google Ads AdMob integrated. In total 3,868 apps. Google Ads AdMob is a mobile advertising platform that enables users to monetize their mobile applications via in-app advertising. AdMob is based on the Google Mobile Ads SDK and serves over 200 billion ad requests a month, with over 1 million advertisers and 1 million apps currently running on the AdMob mobile ad network.
40% of apps from Chinese publishers have Google Ads AdMob Mediation Adapters integrated. In total 3,834 apps.
34% of apps from Chinese publishers have Glide integrated. In total 3,266 apps. Glide is an open source media management and image loading framework for Android that supports fetching, decoding, and displaying video stills, images, and animated GIFs. Glide includes a flexible API that developers can plug in to almost any network stack.
22% of apps from Chinese publishers have Firebase Cloud Messaging integrated. In total 2,105 apps. Firebase Cloud Messaging is a cross-platform messaging solution developed by Google that lets app developers reliably deliver messages at no cost. With Firebase Cloud Messaging, app developers can notify a client app that new email or other data is available to sync, and drive user re-engagement and retention with notification messages.
20% of apps from Chinese publishers have RxAndroid/RxJava integrated. In total 1,951 apps. RxAndroid/RxJava, developed by Google’s Android team, adds the minimum classes to RxJava that make it simple to write reactive components in Android applications. Specifically, it provides a scheduler that schedules on the main thread or any given looper.
19% of apps from Chinese publishers have EventBus integrated. In total 1,841 apps.
The following shows which android permissions are most frequently request by China app publishers. Use our App Market Explorer to filter the Google Play Store by apps with specific permissions.
android.permission.INTERNET makes it possible for app publishers to create network sockets and use custom network protocols within their apps. This permission is not required for internet connection however, as the mobile browser provides all apps with the ability to send data to the internet. 100% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Internet Access permission. Total 17,572 apps.
The android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE permission can be leveraged by app developers to enable their apps to view information about network connections. This information includes such things as which networks exist and which already have connections. 100% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Network Information Access permission. Total 17,005 apps.
android.permission.WAKE_LOCK gives apps the ability to prevent the phone they are running on from going into sleep mode. This is good for apps, like YouTube, that get extended periods of engagement that do not necessarily require the user to touch the screen or otherwise interact physically with the device. 100% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Phone Sleep Mode Preventation permission. Total 13,591 apps.
App publishers can leverage android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE to enable their app to view information about Wi-Fi networking. This includes whether Wi-Fi is enabled and the names of the connected Wi-Fi devices. 100% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Wifi Information Access permission. Total 11,441 apps.
android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE makes it possible for app developers to enable their apps to modify or delete the contents of users’ SD cards. 100% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Write External Storage permission. Total 10,706 apps.
Apps often advertise other apps. By leveraging com.google.android.finsky.permission.BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE apps can make sure that installs of other apps launched via their ads are properly attributed. 79% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Install Referrer permission. Total 8,331 apps.
The android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission allows app developers to enable their apps to read the contents of user SD cards. 79% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Read External Storage permission. Total 8,297 apps.
android.permission.VIBRATE makes it possible for app builders to give their apps control over the vibrating function of the devices they are running on. 75% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Vibration permission. Total 7,909 apps.
72% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE permission. Total 7,570 apps.
android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED gives apps the ability to start themselves as soon as the system it is running on has finished booting. It should be noted, however, that this can often slow down the phone start time. In addition, it can slow down the device generally by enabling the app to run constantly. 70% of the apps from Chinese publishers use the Start At Boot Time permission. Total 7,368 apps.
42matters tracks everything from app meta data, to rankings, to download estimates, to changes in meta information, to SDK usage, to App-ads.txt and more. If you would like to leverage our data into your own product, research or app industry analysis, it can be obtained via our API or File Dumps or our interactive App Market Explorer.
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