China's online sales surge in 2012

BEIJING -- China's online retail sales boomed last year, as more consumers have gravitated toward online shopping for its convenience and personalized services.

Online retail sales reached 1.32 trillion yuan ($210.39 billion) in 2012, a jump of 64.7 percent from the previous year, according to data issued by the Internet Society of China on Thursday.

The sales accounted for 6.3 percent of total retail sales last year, Lu Wei, secretary-general of the society, said at a press conference.

Lu attributed the increase to the fast development of e-commerce in the country's industrial, agricultural, transportation and financial sectors.

The number of medium- and small-sized enterprises using third-party e-commerce platforms for marketing had exceeded 17 million by the end of 2012, Lu said.