CHINA'S entertainment and media market will grow by an annual 12 percent compound rate in the next five years to US$203 billion in 2017, with Internet advertising likely to rise the most, an industry report said yesterday.

Overall advertising spending may expand 12.4 percent annually through 2017 to US$55.7 billion boosted by Internet advertising while the traditional media continues to dominate the sector in the next five years, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in its annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook.

Internet advertising, which may contribute 47.7 percent of total expenditure in 2017 from 32 percent currently, will expand by an annual compound rate of 21.5 percent, the highest of the 11 sectors studied by PwC.

Newspapers will see the smallest advertising income gain of 4.4 percent over the next five years.

Chinese consumers are expected to spend US$67.8 billion on entertainment and media in 2017. By then China is set to overtake the UK and Germany to become the world's third-largest consumer market.