SHANGHAI, July 27 (Xinhua) -- China's game industry rebounded quickly in the first half (H1) of 2023, with the number of users hitting a new high of 668 million.

The sales revenue of China's domestic game market reached 144.3 billion yuan (about 20 billion U.S. dollars) in H1, up 22.2 percent over the previous half-year period, according to an industry report released in Shanghai on Thursday.

The overall recovery trend is obvious, and the market is expected to usher in a stronger growth momentum in the second half, noted the report published by China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association.

Data shows that from January to April, the overall willingness and ability of online game users in China to consume have not yet recovered, and the sales revenue of the game industry decreased by 2.39 percent year on year, but since May the market has seen a strong recovery.

"China's game industry is gradually getting out of the trough and showing an upward growth trend," said Zhang Yijun with the association.

Zhang added that currently, the major target markets for China's homegrown game products are the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea, while sales are also heating up in emerging markets such as the Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

"The game industry is in a critical transition period with the introduction of artificial intelligence technology," said Ethan Wang, senior vice president of Netease, who believes that China's game industry is reconstructing its own value and stimulating new industrial dividends.

Just as China's game industry is picking up recovery momentum, ChinaJoy, a major global online game gala, will be launched in Shanghai on Friday. With an exhibition area of over 120,000 square meters, it has attracted more than 500 enterprises, demonstrating the enduring appeal of the huge Chinese game market.