According to Cai Yudong, deputy chief of the e-commerce and information technology bureau under the Commerce Ministry, China became the world's largest online retail market in 2013. Online shopper numbers reached 302 million, and the online retail transaction volume in 2013 exceeded 1.85 trillion yuan, equivalent to 7.8 percent of total retail sales of social consumer goods. 

As a strategic emerging industry, e-commerce has played an important role in transforming the economic growth mode, promoting industrial restructuring and upgrading, and modernizing the circulation of goods. It has become one of the key means to boost domestic demand, expand consumption, and promote development, said Cai.

From 2003 to 2011, China's online retail market saw annual growth of 120 percent, ranking first worldwide.

A report released by China Central Television (CCTV) shows that 81 percent of Chinese families engaged in online shopping in 2013, and clothing, books, digital products and home appliances were the preferred choices.

Cai said online retail sales have penetrated to every corner of China. The industry not only promotes consumption, but is also conductive to expanding employment and encouraging business startups. A total of 9.62 million people nationwide have opened online shops or work for online stores.

E-commerce has further promoted the improvement of logistics services, and Internet finance has begun to force innovation and development in the traditional financial sector, according to Cai.

Insiders predict that by 2020 the size of China's online retail market will increase to 4.2 trillion yuan, equivalent to the combined size of the current markets in the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany and France.

The article is edited and translated from《中国网络零售坐上全球头把交椅》, source: People's Daily Overseas Edtion, author: Luo Lan