The Chinese internet marketing landscape continues its robust expansion, with recent reports revealing significant shifts in platform dominance, consumer behavior, and technological integration. A comprehensive analysis by leading research institutions provides critical insights into the market's evolution through 2025 and beyond.
Market Expansion and Economic Impact
Projections indicate China's internet advertising revenue will reach 725.7 billion yuan ($100 billion) in 2025, marking an 11.5% year-over-year increase. The broader advertising and marketing sector is expected to grow 12.62% to 1.6 trillion yuan ($220 billion), maintaining double-digit growth for three consecutive years. This sustained expansion underscores digital marketing's role as a cornerstone of China's digital economy.
Platform Concentration and Competitive Dynamics
The market exhibits pronounced consolidation, with the top 10 platforms commanding 96.6% of total advertising revenue. This concentration creates substantial challenges for smaller players while forcing brands to strategically allocate resources among dominant platforms to maximize returns.
The Rise of Short Video Platforms
2025 marks a pivotal transition as short video platforms surpass comprehensive e-commerce in revenue generation. These platforms leverage superior user engagement, interactive features, and content diversity to become primary marketing channels. Meanwhile, traditional e-commerce platforms are transforming through interest-based commerce (growing 18.9% annually) and AI-enhanced search functions, which saw advertising revenue surge 107.4%.
Sector-Specific Advertising Trends
Food & beverage, personal care, and maternal-infant products collectively account for 58% of total advertising expenditure, reflecting China's consumption upgrade trend. Several industries demonstrate remarkable recovery: education advertising skyrocketed 654% to 8.1 billion yuan, while leisure tourism and financial services reversed previous declines with 45-50% growth rates.
AI's Transformative Impact on Marketing
The report identifies two paradigm-shifting developments:
1. The Emergence of "AI Trust" Marketing: Brand success now hinges on how effectively artificial intelligence systems evaluate and recommend their offerings. This requires comprehensive optimization of digital touchpoints—from official websites to user reviews—into machine-readable formats.
2. Service-as-Entry-Point Model: AI agents are redefining user interactions, shifting from traditional search-based discovery to proactive service recommendations. Brands must integrate with major AI ecosystems or develop specialized vertical agents to maintain visibility.
Content-Commerce Convergence
Leading platforms have achieved full-funnel integration, combining content discovery, interest cultivation, transaction completion, and user retention. The success of "short video+" models exemplifies this seamless ecosystem, requiring brands to adopt holistic, platform-agnostic strategies rather than segmented channel approaches.
Future Growth Engines
Looking toward 2026, two key drivers emerge:
Agentive AI: Advanced automation enabling hyper-personalized marketing at scale.
Omnichannel Integration: Breaking down online-offline barriers to deliver consistent brand experiences across all consumer touchpoints.
Strategic Recommendations for Brands
To navigate this evolving landscape, organizations should:
- Implement AI-driven marketing automation systems
- Develop unified ecosystems spanning content, commerce, and service
- Restructure digital assets for optimal AI comprehension
- Establish presence within emerging AI agent networks
- Cultivate long-term brand equity through value-focused engagement
The report concludes that future competition will center on ecosystem development and sustained value creation rather than traditional traffic acquisition, requiring fundamental organizational transformation across technology, structure, and performance metrics.