A sign of the times, there are smartphone apps for almost anything today. With a few clicks, information about goods and services is instantly available. And the market can only continue to grow.

Food is better enjoyed in groups...And through an instant messaging tool called WeChat, Sun Yue is sharing it with her daughter far away.

"What do you think of my meal?"

"It's so rich! Just watch out for kidney stones," Sun Yue said.

Sun Yue lives in Beijing's neighboring city, Tianjin. She is now over 50 years old, but that hasn't stopped her from becoming a bona fide techie.

"I am getting close to being a cellphone geek," Sun Yue said..

According to China Mobile, over the past May Day holiday, mobile internet data usage surged by 72 percent. Experts say, because people usually shop on their cellphones during fragmented spare time, they are ten times more efficient using their phones than their desktops.

By the end of last year, the number of mobile phone users in China reached over 1 billion, and China is now the world's largest market for smartphone devices.

And higher data consumption is tied to higher GDP in a country. Chinese officials estimate that every 10 billion yuan spent on information could bring about 33 billion yuan, equal to around 5.4 billion US dollars, to the overall economy. And that could grow further as the technology improves.

"When the infrastructure for 4G internet is set in place, the purchasing power of the Chinese people will be fully released. There will be great potential to expand domestic demand," said Fan Jianping, chief economist of State Information Center.

This new engine for China's economy is now ready to gather even more momentum.

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