China's e-commerce sales rise 8.5% in H1, driven by government-led trade-in incentives & subsidies

China's e-commerce sector saw robust growth in the first half of 2025, buoyed by government policies such as trade-in incentives and state subsidies, a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.

Online retail sales rose 8.5 percent year-on-year from January to June, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Physical goods sold online contributed 29.6 percent to the country's overall retail sales during the same period, the ministry estimated.

China's push to boost domestic consumption is paying off in the digital economy, officials said, adding that "Silk Road E-commerce" partnerships now include 36 countries. Recent e-commerce cooperation agreements were signed with Kenya, Bangladesh, and Egypt.

Cross-border e-commerce also expanded steadily. Preliminary data from the General Administration of Customs showed China's import and export volume via cross-border e-commerce reached 1.32 trillion yuan ($184 billion) in the first half, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier.