Chinese consumers spend nearly 700 bln yuan during nationwide online shopping festival

Workers sort out packages at a sorting center in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 11, 2020, on the occasion of an annual online shopping spree. (Photo by Geng Yuhe/Xinhua)

BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese consumers spent 692.8 billion yuan (about 107.22 billion U.S. dollars) over the course of a 15-day online shopping festival, official data shows.

This represents a year-on-year growth of 26.7 percent, commerce ministry spokesperson Gao Feng told a regular press conference on Thursday.

The online shopping festival, jointly launched by the Ministry of Commerce and other offices, is a nationwide campaign designed to boost quality consumption.

The sales revenue of physical commodities surged 25.9 percent year on year to 562 billion yuan during the festival, with Chinese brands accounting for 73.8 percent of total sales, the data shows.

Sales of travel packages soared 330 percent from a year ago during the online festival, and catering services sales surged 51.1 percent.