A sports instructor gives an online course at home in Changchun, Jilin province. (ZHANG YANSHI / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Spurred by the coronavirus epidemic, the number of online video users in China soared to 850 million in March, up by 126 million from the end of 2018, according to a report on China's internet development. 

The number of online education users also rose to 423 million, up 110.2 percent from the end of 2018

Online education users also increased by more than 110 percent to 423 million.

The China Internet Network Information Center said in its report released on Tuesday that online video users accounted for 94.1 percent of the country's netizen population as of March.

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The number of short video users reached 773 million, or 85.6 percent of all internet users, representing an increase of 125 million from the end of 2018, the report said.

It said both the number of users and usage time of online videos rose significantly early this year due to the coronavirus epidemic.

It added that online videos had become the second most used internet application next to instant messaging.

Short video platforms are increasingly integrated with other industries, particularly playing an important role in driving economic development in impoverished regions, the report said.

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It said users of online entertainment applications also grew in number during the epidemic, with online music users reaching 635 million and online game users increasing to 532 million, accounting for 70.3 percent and 58.9 percent of the total netizen population respectively.

But it was not all entertainment and games.

The number of online education users rose to 423 million, up 110.2 percent from the end of 2018, according to the report.

They accounted for 46.8 percent of the country's netizen population and also saw an explosive increase due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the report said.

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Noting that the opening of schools across the country was postponed during the epidemic, the report said 265 million students switched to online courses, bringing the number of daily active users on multiple online education applications to more than 10 million.

China's Ministry of Education (MOE) rolled out a series of measures to make the online education industry more standardized and systematic, the report noted.

It said the MOE launched 22 online course platforms with about 24,000 courses offered, ensuring students' access to classes during the outbreak.

In addition, the industry strengthened cooperation with short-video platforms to cater to more young users, the report said, adding that in 2019 around 200 million education-related short videos were produced on Kuaishou, a leading Chinese online short video platform.