Mobile games continue to dominate the Chinese gaming market

Mobile games now make up 57 percent of total earnings in the Chinese gaming market this year, reports Chinanews.com.

The same stats show mobile gaming remains the most lucrative sector for the gaming industry in China.

A child plays a game on a mobile phone. [File photo: VCG]

The 2017 China Gaming Industry Report, published on Tuesday by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, shows mobile games earned over 116 billion yuan (around 17.6 billion US dollars) in 2017, up 41.7 percent year-on-year.

The number of Chinese mobile game users has also increased 4.9 percent through 2017, reaching 554 million.

Desktop-based games have seen overall revenues drop to 7.6 percent of the total earnings this year to 15.6 billion yuan.

The annual meeting of the Chinese gaming industry is held in Haikou, Hainan Province, Tuesday, December 19, 2017. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

The overall gaming market in China has generated 203.61 billion yuan so far this year, a 23-percent rise compared to 2016.

An estimated 583 million people in China play electronic games, according to the report.

There are currently 185 Chinese gaming companies listed on the stock markets, eight of which are listed in the US.

Online Chinese games have also been able to generate some 8.2 billion U.S. dollars in foreign markets this year, up 14.5 percent year-on-year.