(Yicai) Aug. 19 -- Retail e-commerce sales outside of China, a huge market for Chinese cross-border digital commerce businesses, will likely reach USD3 trillion this year, according to a new Amazon report.

E-commerce will probably account for 12.5 percent of the world’s retail sales this year, excluding China, according to the Chinese cross-border industry report  published by the US online shopping giant on Aug. 16.

Retail e-commerce sales outside of China may hit USD4 trillion by 2028, the report also predicted.

China's cross-border e-commerce has not only grown by sales, but also in strength, including wider geographical distribution, more diversified export categories, stronger talent reserves, more complete industrial services, broader global deployment, accelerated brand building, and deeper technological innovation, said Qiu Sheng, vice president of Amazon China.

E-commerce is expected to account for 12.5 percent of retail sales outside of China this year, compared with half in China, the report noted. The figures for the United States, Japan, and the top five European countries will likely hit 16.2 percent, 14.2 percent, and 13 percent, respectively.

Globally, the sector steadied last year after experiencing several years of ups and downs. The annual compound growth rate between 2019 and 2023 was 29 percent in Latin America, 28.3 percent in the Middle East and Europe, 27.1 percent in the Middle East and Africa, 17.4 percent in the US, 12 percent in Japan, and 9.7 percent in the top five European countries, according to the report.

The number of Chinese merchants on Amazon with sales in excess of USD1 million jumped nearly 55 percent in the first half of this year, the report said. Amazon suggested vendors innovate their products, technologies, operations, supply chain, brand, and business model to speed up their high-quality overseas development.

By value, China's cross-border e-commerce trade jumped 10.5 percent to CNY1.2 trillion (USD168 billion) in the first half from a year earlier, according to initial estimates from the General Administration of Customs.

Editor: Futura Costaglione