It is predicted that China's online retail volume will amount to 1.8 trillion yuan (around $300 billion) in 2013 and will exceed 3 trillion yuan (around $500 billion) in 2015, accounting for more than 10 percent of the total retail sales of social consumer goods, said Chinese commerce minister Gao Hucheng Monday.

A research conducted by the Ministry of Commerce shows that a new batch of hot spots for consumption represented by online consumption are forming and there are still huge room for the growth of consumer markets, said Gao, although since 2012, the increase rate of traditional hot spots consumption including autos and housing has seen obvious slowdown.

Edited and translated by Liang Jun, People's Daily Online