More than 5.4 billion yuan (about 771 million U.S. dollars) was donated to charity via online platforms in China in 2019, up 68 percent year on year, said Wang Aiwen, vice minister of civil affairs.

According to Wang, the number has grown by over 20 percent for three consecutive years as online charity emerged as another growth area in China's philanthropy, thanks to the rapid development of technologies such as big data.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, of the total 39.6 billion yuan donated through charities and the Red Cross Society of China, more than 49.5 million donations have been made online, pooling about 1.87 billion yuan, said Wang, at an online summit on internet public welfare.

Representatives of more than 3,000 public welfare and social organizations took part in the summit.