BEIJING — The online retail market has provided strong support for China to promote consumption growth and domestic circulation as economic activity is hampered by the coronavirus epidemic, according to the latest statistical report on China's internet development.

The report released by the China Internet Network Information Center noted that China's online retail sales in the first half of 2020 had risen by 7.3 percent year-on-year to exceed 5.15 trillion yuan (about $758.5 billion), citing National Bureau of Statistics figures.

During the same period, online retail sales of physical commodities accounted for as much as 25.2 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

Online shopping has thrived and has boosted consumption, thus helping enhance the resilience of the economy, the report said.

While various online sales events effectively unlock consumption potential, new industry and business models like online shopping for agricultural products provide solid support for the transformation of traditional industries and the circulation of agricultural products, it added.

China's online consumer population hit 749 million in June 2020, up 5.5 percent from March and accounting for 79.7 percent of the country's total internet user population, according to the report.