BEIJING: China’s overall advertising expenditure this year is estimated to grow 9.3 percent from a year ago to US$50 billion, and set to be more than double the 3.9 percent pace globally over the same period, a report has showed.
In 2016, China’s ad budget is forecast to grow 9 percent compared with the 4.7 percent growth globally, according to the report released by media agency ZenithOptimedia.
The report added that China and the United States are set to be key growth drivers for the next three years.
Other top contributors include the UK, Japan and emerging markets such as Indonesia, India and Brazil.
China has growth potential because ad spend out of its total gross domestic product only makes up around 5 percent of GDP this year. In the US, ad spend is estimated at US$182 billion which contributes 10 percent of its GDP.
This year also marks the first time that China’s Internet ad spend surpasses that of television whose ad income is set to only gain 0.2 percent as advertisers cut spending on local TV.
The report estimates the Internet to take up 50 percent of China’s ad spending by 2017, up from 24.4 percent in 2014. Mobile channels are likely to account for 31 percent out of the total ad budget by then, the report added.