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The global economic slowdown has led to a surge in e-business transactions on the mainland, with e-commerce turnover soaring 60% in the first six months of the year to 2.25 trillion yuan (HK$2.58 trillion), writes the South China Morning Post, citing a report from the China e-Business Research Centre.

Zhang Zhouping, an analyst at the China e-Business Research Centre and co-author of the report, told the Post that e-commerce was the best solution for enterprises looking to cut costs and improve efficiency during the financial crisis.

The Post notes that online-shopping (B2C and C2C) still accounts for a small share of industry turnover but is showing solid growth. Turnover almost doubled in the first half of last year to 103 billion yuan on a year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, the B2B sector is growing more slowly than B2C and C2C, mainly because of the global recession.

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