China could have as many as 750 million people online by 2015, up from 420 million today, McKinsey research estimates. Who are these Internet users? Which applications drive them online, and what makes them stay there? Which devices are they using, and how will that change over time? Marketers seeking to reach China’s swelling population need these details to make informed business decisions.

The McKinsey report Understanding China’s Digital Consumers attempts to fill the information gap. In 2010, we surveyed more than 5,000 of these consumers in upward of 20 Chinese cities. In addition to collecting basic demographic data, we asked the respondents questions that helped us assess two critical dimensions of their digital personas. The first was how much time consumers spend on digital devices (such as mobile phones and smart phones, PCs, TVs, and game consoles) and how they allocate their time among various applications (e-mail, instant messaging, games). The second dimension was how much money consumers spend on digital devices and applications.