During the first half of the year, over 10 million live e-commerce broadcasts were launched, attracting more than 50 billion viewers, Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a press conference.
Flourishing in recent years, livestreaming has been used to market brands and sell products by introducing their merits through video conversations over the internet.
This interactive approach to attract consumers is gaining popularity thanks to multiple factors such as the widespread use of smartphones, speedy internet connections and a growing penchant among younger shoppers to socialize virtually.
Partly boosted by the new marketing tool, China's online retail sales rose 7.3 percent year on year to 5.15 trillion yuan (about 736 billion U.S. dollars) during the first half, with the number of online shoppers increasing by 100 million from last year, data showed.
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