(Yicai Global) Nov. 1 -- Chinese people have become the largest group of shoppers for foreign-branded products via online platforms. Among them, less-than-30-year-olds lead the crowd, a report jointly done by national and international organizations shows.

The number of purchasers of delivered overseas goods has increased tenfold in three years, the China Import Consumer Market Report that was released yesterday shows. The China Chamber of International Commerce, US consultancy Deloitte, and Alibaba Group Holding's Ali Research Institute collaborated on the report.

The post-90s generation has led the development. This age bracket replaced the post-80s this year to become the largest consumer group on Tmall International platform which sells global brands to Chinese consumers. However, the post-80s may still have more cash to burn as they made up 48 percent of the total spending power.

China's imports of goods grew at an average annual rate of 13.5 percent from 2001 to 2017, which was 6.9 percent higher than the global average, state-backed The Paper reported today Yu Min, minister of the CCOIC's secretary bureau, as saying. China has become the second-largest global importer with USD20 trillion worth of products.

The country's service trade was also aspirational as it grew at a rate of 16.7 percent over the same period of 17 years, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the global total.

Most of the goods came from the EU, the US, the ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. The EU is the largest supplier with its 40 percent market share and products worth CNY436.7 billion (USD62.6 billion).

The selection of products has increased, particularly in the segments of toiletries, watches, clothing, furniture, food, as well as cultural and educational supplies. Imports of infant formula rose 49 percent and those of toiletries by 40 percent.

China's market is still opening up, said Gao Hongbing, president of the Ali Research Institute. The country is encouraging more cross-border business with its increasing number of tax reductions, he added.

Economic globalization is still an irreversible trend even though unilateralism and protectionism have continued to rise andthe multilateral trading system is facing challenges, Yu said.

Editor: Emmi Laine