HANGZHOU, Aug. 31 -- The online retail sales of BRICS countries surpassed 876 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, according to a report released by the Ali Research Institute affiliated with China's e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The report said that the online retail sales of BRICS countries accounted for 47 percent of the global total. The figure is expected to climb to 59 percent by 2022 as the five countries have great potential in e-commerce cooperation.

Last year, BRICS countries had 1.46 billion Internet users and 720 million online shoppers, according to the report.

Russian candy and cookies, Indian handicrafts and spices, Brazilian nuts and propolis, and South African grapefruit and wine were best sellers on China's e-commerce platforms, the report said.

According to AliExpress, an e-commerce site for cross-border exports run by Alibaba, made-in-China goods like clothes, accessories, mobile phones and electronic products were most favored by BRICS customers.

"Increasing disposable income, wide use of the Internet and improved payment and logistics services have driven the sustained and rapid development of e-commerce in the five countries," said Ouyang Cheng from the Ali Research Institute.

China, which holds the BRICS presidency this year, will host the ninth BRICS summit in September in Xiamen, Fujian Province.