E-commerce transactions to hit $6.55t by 2020

Employees work at a JD.com logistic center in Langfang, Hebei province, November 10, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

China's e-commerce sector is expected to continue booming in the next five years, as the government targets more efficient trade flows and lower costs in domestic markets.

The Ministry of Commerce said in its 13th Five-Year Plan on Tuesday that e-commerce transactions aim to reach 43.8 trillion yuan ($6.55 trillion) by 2020, with an annual growth rate of about 15 percent.

Total social retail sales are projected to grow 10 percent annually to hit 48 trillion yuan, among which online retailing will stand at 9.6 trillion yuan - an annual growth of 20 percent, according to the plan.

The e-commerce sector witnessed explosive growth in the past few years, driven mainly by rapid logistics development and online shopping spree underpinned by mobile Internet technologies.

In 2015, value of e-commerce transactions stood at 16.4 trillion yuan, up 22.7 percent from a year earlier, nearly tripling that of five years ago, according to a recent report released by Beijing-based iResearch Consulting Group.

Business-to-business, online shopping and online travels are the top three segments to bolster the swelling industry, said the report.

Meanwhile, retail sales via mobile internet increased 123.8 percent year-on-year to reach 2.1 trillion yuan, accounting for 55.5 percent of the total online retailing in the same period.

Internet users hit 688 million as of December last year, with a penetration rate of 50.3 percent across the country, among which 90.1 percent access internet via mobile devices, according to an earlier report by China Internet Network Information Center.