People look at tablet PC and cellphone at Xuanwumen Station of Beijing Subway in Beijing, capital of China, Nov 18, 2012. The All-China Journalists Association said in a report, published on May 31, 2017, that social networks and news apps have become an increasingly important channel for people to obtain information. (Zhang Cheng / Xinhua)

BEIJING – More than 500 million Chinese now read news on their mobile devices, accounting for over 70 percent of the nation's netizens, according to a report on development of journalism in China.

Social networks and news apps have become increasingly important channels for people to get information, said the report published by the All-China Journalists Association on Wednesday.

China's media industry reached 1.3 trillion yuan (US$186 billion) in 2015, increasing by 12.3 percent from 2014.

In 2014, the internet accounted for 47.2 percent of the media industry. It rose to 51.8 percent in 2015.

In the first half of 2016, internet advertising spending grew by 26.9 percent, 10 percentage points more than the same period in 2015.

Technological development has become a powerful impetus for media reform, the report said, citing the use of big data, cloud computing, news -writing robots, drones and virtual reality technologies.