BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 4.7 billion packages were handled by Chinese postal and courier companies during this year's mid-year shopping spree, up more than 48 percent over the same period last year, official data showed on Friday.

Around 260 million packages were handled daily on average from June 1 to 18, during the so-called "618" online shopping festival, according to the State Post Bureau.

The country's express delivery firms handled 7.38 billion parcels last month, with rapid growth backed by the faster reopening of businesses, and the country's robust consumption market.

E-commerce giants set new sales records during the largest promotion event so far this year.

Alibaba's online marketplace, Tmall, saw deals reach new highs of 698.2 billion yuan (about 98.6 billion U.S. dollars), while JD.com recorded 269.2 billion yuan in orders during the 18-day promotion, up from 201.5 billion yuan during last year's event.

The mid-year spending boom mirrors a steady recovery in China's retail consumer goods sales. Online sales continued to be active, as consumers turned to online services while having to stay indoors. Online sales increased by 4.5 percent year on year in the first five months, quickening by 2.8 percentage points from the first four months.

The country has been introducing a string of measures to revive consumer confidence as part of broader efforts to boost the economy. Local governments have started to offer vouchers to boost spending, while incentives for automobile purchases were introduced to prop up the sector.