China to become world's largest market for e-commerce soon

Beijing: China aims to double the value of its e-commerce sales to 18 trillion yuan ($2.86 trillion) by the end of 2015, which would make it the leading market for global e-commerce.

That’s according to an e-commerce 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) report that was released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Industry and IT, China Daily reported on Wednesday.

China, with 513 million Internet users, is home to more residents who are online than the US, according to a China Internet Network Information Centre.

“During the 11th Five-Year Plan (2005-10), the growth rate for China’s e-commerce sales increased by an average of 250 percent, reaching 4.5 trillion yuan by the end of 2010,” the ministry said.

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In 2010, about 161 million Internet users purchased 513.1 billion yuan in goods online, an amount making up 3.3 percent of the value of all retail sales in China.

“E-commerce has expanded into various industries such as the agriculture, trading, transportation, finance and travel industries and is merging with China’s substantial economy,” the plan said.

China is expected to surpass Japan and the US in three years to become the country with the world’s largest market for online goods and services.