BEIJING: China’s online population crosses a billion as of June, up 21.75 million compared with that in December, a report from the China Internet Network Information Centre said.

Of the total, 469 million netizens use the internet to order food, a significant increase, according to the report.

It said the instant delivery business, especially those in fresh food and medicine, has developed rapidly since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, adding this fast growth has benefited people and stabilised the economy together with common food and beverage takeout.

In the report, the proportion of internet users aged 50 and above accounted for 28% as of June, up 5.2 percentage points from June 2020.

Considering the rising number of elderly netizens, the State Council, Cabinet, and relevant departments, released guidelines to provide easier access to the internet, it said.

In a guideline issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology last year, 115 websites and 43 smartphone applications were required to be optimised to help the elderly and the disabled, it said.

 - China Daily