Western provinces developing fast in e-commerce: Alibaba report

HANGZHOU — E-commcerce sales have grown fast in several western provinces of China, according to a report on the digital economy published by Alibaba.

In the past year, e-commerce grew fast in western provinces of Gansu and Guizhou, and Tibet autonomous region, the report said. Gansu saw sales grow by 114 percent and Guizhou by 76 percent year-on-year.

Mao Risheng, a researcher with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Internet commerce had restructured production and logistics in rural areas and also helped farmers raise income, particularly in the country's west.

Breaking down figures by provinces, the report said economic powerhouse provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang still dominated online sales.

From January to November last year, the top five in sales were Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing. Sales by Guangdong province are about 25 percent of the national total, while Zhejiang's sales are about 22 percent of the total.

Online demand for skin-care, as well as digital and health products have been climbing. Cross-border e-commerce also soared. Sales of French wine, fragrance from Thailand and baby formula from the Netherlands have grown by 500 percent year-on-year.