China rocketing on information superhighway

5. World's biggest online retail market

Villagers sell local special products on cun.taobao.com, Alibaba's online-shopping platform targeting farmers, in Huanglong village, Yuexi county, East China's Anhui province, Nov 11, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

China's online retail sales from last December to this May exceeded 3 trillion yuan, the highest record in the same period, according to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In 2016, China's online retail sales accounted for 39.2 percent of the global online retail market, continuing to be the world's largest online retail market, the Ministry of Commerce said in a report.

China had 467 million online shoppers in 2016, with the online shopping penetration rate reaching 63.9 percent, according to CNNIC. Rural e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce are growing fast in China.