The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Tuesday that the digitalization level in China's business sectors has continued to improve this year.

According to the MOC, China's e-commerce activities since the beginning of the year have played a positive role in promoting consumption recovery and expanding international economic and trade cooperation.

In the first five months, online retail sales totaled 5.77 trillion yuan (about 810.11 billion U.S. dollars), representing an increase of 12.4 percent from a year earlier, the MOC said, noting that promotional activities on the online e-commerce platforms such as "618" shopping festival powered the retail sales growth.

The country has also signed new memorandums of e-commerce cooperation with Serbia and Bahrain, expanding the number of Silk Road E-commerce partner countries to 32, according to the ministry.

In the first quarter of 2024, the proportion of cross-border e-commerce in total platforms of exports increased to 7.8 percent. Cross-border e-commerce activities contributed more than 1 percentage point to export growth in the first three months, the ministry said.