Chinese player Wang Xuwen is competing in the World Cyber Game 2019 held in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

The annual revenue of China's gaming industry increased 20.7 percent year on year to 278.69 billion yuan (about 42.64 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, said an industry report released Thursday.

The report was released at the annual meeting of China's gaming industry in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

According to the report, in 2020, the number of game users in China reached 670 million, an annual increase of 3.7 percent.

Overseas markets have become increasingly important to Chinese game developers. In 2020, the revenue of China's gaming industry from overseas markets reached nearly 101 billion yuan, up 33.3 percent year on year, according to the report.

The revenue from the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea accounted for around 60 percent of the total from overseas markets.

In addition, the report said the revenue of China's e-sports game market increased 44.2 percent year on year to 136.56 billion yuan this year, with the number of e-sports game players in China reaching 490 million.