(Yicai Global) July 24 -- China's cross-border e-commerce imports jumped 24.3 percent to CNY45.7 billion (USD6.6 billion) in the first half of the year as consumers splashed out on items ranging from cosmetics to handbags.

Within the headline figure, 800,000 packages worth between CNY2,000 (USD290) and CNY5,000 each entered the country in the first six months, totaling CNY2.3 billion (USD340 million), according to data released yesterday by the Tax Administration Bureau Shanghai of the General Administration of Customs.

An increasing number of Chinese consumers regularly buy foreign goods online and it has become part of their everyday life, a bureau official said. Cosmetics, milk powder, diapers and food items were among the top 131 imported products. High-end goods such as bracelets, watches and handbags were also best-sellers.

Imports of video game consoles were permitted only from the beginning of this year, yet they ranked the 26th most popular purchase and tallied CNY200 million (USD29 million). Imports of gaming hardware more than doubled to CNY56.6 million in June from January.

The Tax Administration Bureau Shanghai was set up at the beginning of this year to handle the collection of taxes and customs processing of mechanical and electrical commodities. It is also responsible for compiling statistics of cross-border e-commerce imports.