China's live-streaming, e-sports industries to boom in 2018: report

BEIJING - China's live-streaming and e-sports industries will witness a boom in development in 2018, according to a report released by Deloitte Consulting.

China's live-streaming market is estimated to reach $4.4 billion by revenue next year, up 86 percent from 2016. Worldwide, the live-streaming revenue is expected to hit $7.4 billion, according to the report.

In the e-sports industry, the global market is forecast to exceed 1 billion dollars in 2018. It was worth $325 million in 2015.

In 2016, global fans watched an estimated six billion hours of e-sports content, while Chinese fans accounted for half of that e-sports viewing. China's e-sports industry will make up no less than 50 percent of global market share in 2018, the report said.