China’s Digital Core: The Middle-Young Users Shaping Platform Strategy in 2025

As China’s digital ecosystem enters a new phase of maturity, marketing success hinges less on expanding user bases and more on unlocking the full value of existing audiences. This article, drawing on insights from QuestMobile, reveals a decisive shift led by China’s middle-young demographic (ages 19–50)—a cohort that not only dominates screen time but also drives consumption and household decision-making. In an era defined by mobile-first behaviours, they stand out as the core high-value users, reshaping the priorities of digital marketing strategies.

A Tectonic Shift in Internet Engagement

In April 2025, the average Chinese mobile internet user spent over 170 hours online per month — a year-on-year growth of 6.6%. Crucially, this increase outpaced growth in active user numbers, signalling a maturing market defined by intensified engagement. Middle-young users, although comprising just 61.4% of the total user base, accounted for a staggering 70.6% of total usage time. They are not just passive users — they are the engines of digital consumption.

Consumption Capacity Meets Decision-Making Power

This cohort’s marketing value lies in the unique convergence of disposable income, frequent digital touchpoints, and significant influence over purchasing decisions. More than 82.2% of users in this age group spend over 1,000 RMB online each month. Their time is largely spent on two major platform categories: short videos (42.7%) and social media (25.1%). It is little wonder that these platforms attracted the lion’s share of ad spend in early 2025 — with video platforms accounting for 41.9% and social platforms 19.1% of all brand investments.

Platform as Battlefield: Where the War for Attention Is Fought

For brands, understanding where to engage this high-value audience is just as important as knowing who they are. QuestMobile reveals that nearly 68% of their online time is spent between mobile video and social apps — up 2 percentage points from the previous year. This reinforces the idea that these platforms are not just digital habits; they are the new marketing main arenas.

On social platforms like WeChat, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu, high-value users exhibit varying characteristics. WeChat provides balanced reach and utility, particularly effective for high-end categories like luxury goods and smart home solutions. Weibo and Xiaohongshu attract younger segments, with Xiaohongshu displaying fast follower growth. The latter’s users, focused on quality lifestyle choices, show strong preferences for health, travel, and skincare.

Interest Graphs Drive Platform Strategy

Brand alignment must go beyond demography and into psychographics. For example:

• WeChat’s high-value users exhibit a stronger inclination towards finance and outbound travel content.

• Weibo users favour outdoor, sports, and wellness-related themes.

• Xiaohongshu’s core audience is captivated by beauty, healthcare, and premium domestic living content.

This kind of platform-user affinity demands brands to tailor content and choose KOLs not just by fame, but by resonance within the platform’s inherent “interest economy”.

Short Video: The Ubiquitous Marketing Lever

Short video platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou continue to consolidate their grip on both user time and advertiser budgets. These platforms succeed not only due to their scale but because of their capacity to fragment and capture micro-moments. In 2025, more than 22.6% of video users contributed to nearly 50% of total platform watch time — an indicator of ultra-engaged subgroups.

Douyin users lean towards fashion and entertainment, while Kuaishou users are more influenced by localised content and charismatic influencers. Interestingly, vertical KOLs focusing on finance, automotive, and culture have emerged as high-performance segments for reaching premium audiences.

Streaming Platforms: Storytelling Converts Attention into Action

Long-form video platforms — while requiring higher time commitment — boast a different kind of value proposition. Their high-value users are the heartbeat of content virality and shopping conversion. Shows with genres such as xianxia, workplace drama, comedy, and idol romance are top attractions. More importantly, these platforms are powerful commerce converters: content watching is closely linked with FMCG and e-commerce purchases.

Top categories benefiting from these users’ attention include:

• Food and beverages

• Beauty and personal care

• Household essentials

The integration of content and commerce continues to offer unique full-funnel marketing opportunities.

2025 Is Not the Year of Growth, but of Deep Value Mining

China’s internet landscape may no longer be defined by meteoric user growth, but it is entering an era of value refinement. The 19–50-year-old demographic holds the keys to consumer influence, not just in size but in engagement, trust, and conversion. Marketers who win in this landscape will be those who treat platform nuance, consumer psychology, and content strategy not as isolated tactics, but as interlocking parts of a precision marketing engine.

Now is the time to recalibrate your China strategy—dig deeper, plan smarter, and act with surgical intent. Connect with us at China Trading Desk to align your brand with the right platforms, insights, and activation frameworks for long-term impact.