The head of the E-commerce Department at the Ministry of Commerce has detailed the performance of China's e-commerce landscape from January to July 2026. During this period, the sector maintained a trajectory of stable and innovative growth, with the integration of online and offline channels unlocking consumer potential. Additionally, digital and intelligent technologies have accelerated industrial transformation and upgrading, while international economic and trade cooperation has been broadened and deepened, collectively bolstering the real economy.
According to commercial big data monitoring, online retail sales of agricultural products grew by 12.8% year-on-year during the first seven months, while rural goods saw a 5% increase. Concurrently, industrial e-commerce transactions for manufactured goods and chemical products rose by 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively, during the same timeframe.
Consumer market stability and momentum
National statistics indicate that online retail sales of goods and services expanded by 4.8% from January to July, contributing over 50% to the overall growth of total retail sales of consumer goods and services, as estimated by the Ministry of Commerce. Online channels have broadened the scope of product purchases and enhanced the convenience of service consumption. Data shows that sales of goods via the internet by enterprises above a designated size accounted for 28.7% of their total retail sales, a 2.5 percentage point increase from the same period last year. On key e-commerce platforms monitored by the ministry, sales in online travel and online lifestyle services surged by 24.9% and 16.3%, respectively.
Digital empowerment across three industries
Leveraging innovative technologies, vast datasets, and diverse application scenarios, e-commerce is driving the digital and intelligent transformation of agriculture, industry, and services. The "Digital Commerce for Agriculture" initiative has deepened the integration of digital technologies with agricultural and rural development, as reflected in the robust growth of online sales for agricultural products and rural goods. Local governments have been guided to cultivate "e-commerce plus industrial belts," facilitating connections between e-commerce platforms and specialized industrial clusters. This has resulted in transaction growth of 1.4% for industrial goods and 1.2% for chemical products in the industrial e-commerce segment. Furthermore, online shopping and digital content consumption are fueling rapid growth in related service sectors, with courier revenue rising 7.4% and mobile internet traffic up 17.7% in the first half of the year.
Expanding international economic and trade cooperation
The "Silk Road E-commerce Benefits the World" initiative continues to gain traction, with the "Cloud Lecture Hall" launching its first two overseas sessions in Egypt and Morocco, attracting nearly 1,000 e-commerce practitioners from 21 Arab countries. Various regions, including Xinjiang, Hebei, Shaanxi, and Jiangsu, have organized "Silk Road Cloud Products" events to promote high-quality goods for export to China. Monitoring of cross-border e-commerce import platforms reveals significant sales surges for select products, with Serbian wine up 122.5%, Bangladeshi coffee beans up 112.2%, and New Zealand butter up 69.4% during the January-July period.
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