(Yicai) Oct. 20 -- Livestreaming makes up an increasing share of China's e-commerce market as such sales jumped by over 60 percent in the first three quarters of this year.

Livestreaming sales increased by 61 percent to CNY1.98 trillion (USD270.6 billion) from January to September from a year ago, accounting for 18 percent of all online retail, the commerce ministry announced on its website today.

China's e-tail sales rose by 12 percent to CNY10.8 trillion (USD1.5 trillion) in the first nine months year-over-year. Digital platforms are becoming more popular as the growth rate was almost 5 percentage points higher than that of total retail sales. Livestreaming contributed nearly 8 percentage points to e-tail growth.

Livestreaming promotes entrepreneurship and creates new jobs. In the nine months, almost 3.4 million livestreamers started e-commerce businesses, a nearly threefold increase from a year ago. An example that demonstrates the booming sector is Sichuan province's Pujiang, a county with a population of 280,000 people, as it is home to over 30,000 people engaged in the e-commerce industry, per the ministry.

China is pushing for more e-commerce cooperation with nations participating in its Belt and Road initiative, a program to rejuvenate trade and cultural exchanges with countries along the ancient Silk Road. The number of China's Silk Road e-commerce partner countries has risen to 30 and more collaboration is expected with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China's largest trade partner on a regional basis. Some of the ASEAN nations that participate in the BRI include Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

From January to September, China's foreign trade via online platforms rose by 14 percent to CNY1.7 trillion from a year earlier, according to customs data. The 30 Silk Road e-commerce partner nations made up more than 30 percent of that.

Editor: Emmi Laine