The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference on February 9. Spokesman Sun Jiwen answered the hot issues that concern media at home and abroad. Here is the record：

Development Situation and Features of the Online Retail Market in 2016

In 2016， Chinas online retail turnover reached RMB 5.16 trillion， up 26.2% year on year. Among these， the online retail turnover of physical commodities was RMB 4.19 trillion， up 25.6% year on year， 15.2 percentage points higher than the growth of total retail sales of consumer goods in the same period. Online retail market continued to maintain a medium and high speed growth， and presented the following features：

The growth was rapid. The permeation of online retail increased constantly， the online retail sales of physical commodities accounted for 12.6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods， 1.8 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. Online retail became the major force that drove the growth of the retail industry. MOFCOMs monitoring over the major retail enterprises showed the growth rate of online retail was 25.4%， much higher than that of other retails business like department stores， supermarkets and shopping malls.

Online retail was becoming mature gradually. Market entities were further optimized. The advantages of B2C were strengthened， accounting for over 55% of online retail business. The competitive modes enjoyed a benign development. Small sized e-commerce platforms in the fields of baby and maternal products， fresh products， cross-border business， home decoration and fashion conducted diversified competition， cultivating advantages in their own industry and clients. Online promotions became more orderly. Large e-commerce platforms no longer conducted “price campaign” and “public relation campaign”， but introduced high quality services， organizing activities like entertainment show and live telecast， and creating an atmosphere of “shopping day”participated by all of the industries.

Online retail contributed to supply-side structural reform. Online retail exploited and released consumption potential. Online shopping became more popular in rural areas， and the growth rate of orders from Central and Western China and third-tier cities was higher than the average growth rate， becoming new driving force for consumption. Online retail provided platforms for domestic brands. In the markets of household appliances and mobile phone， domestic brands firmed its dominant position， and traditional brands opened the markets among young clients through e-commerce. Big data of online retail supported custom-made productions， and numerous manufacturing enterprises began“exclusive custom-made” activities. Through studying numerous data accumulated by e-commerce platforms， enterprises introduced new products rapidly to adapt to the consumers changing demands.

Online and offline sales were constantly promoted. Retail giants were jointly associated to form an integration model with complementary advantages and to promote resources optimal configuration in retail industry. E-commerce platforms provide both online and offline channels for shops， realize a new model of “order online， deliver in stores”， “order in stores， distribute from warehouse”， accelerate digitization of traditional business. Service consumption on life service， entertainment， tourism， travel， education and health grew rapidly with innovated model. Share economy like secondhand deal and joint renting saw fast growth. The O2O market size in 2016 grew up 45% year on year.

New technology advanced service upgrading. Ecommerce platform further consolidated its support and cloud computing service providers improved their processing ability. Technology like unmanned warehouse， autonomous driving and unmanned aerial vehicle also transformed from concept to application， greatly im- proving logistics efficiency and solving the last kilomoter distribution. The application of new technology also drove innovation of marketing models， big data and artificial intelligence technology support personalized scene and realize directional shopping and promotion targeted at different consumers. Virtual reality and augment reality technology were gradually mature， shortened consumers visual perception distance with goods， improve users experience and help to make a transaction.

The Situation and Characteristics of Automobile Sales in 2016

Chinas auto sales in 2016 saw a double-digit growth again. A total of 28，028，000 cars were sold in 2016， up 13.7% year on year， ranking NO.1 in the world for 8 years in a row and hitting a record high. In 2016， sales of automobile above the designated size took up 26.2% of the sales of consumer goods， 0.9 percentage point higher than that in 2015. Auto salesleading role continues to stand out and present the following characteristics：

Sales of passenger vehicle grew rapidly and enthusiasm for SUV did not wane. In 2016， the sales of passenger vehicle grew up 14.9% year on year， 1.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth and its contribution rate to auto sales reached 94.1%. SUV sales sustained a high-speed growth， up 44.6% year on year.

The pulling role of automobiles with small output volume is obvious. Affected by policy of reducing by half the purchase tax of passenger cars with a displacement below 1.6 liters ， sales of cars with a displacement below1.6 liters came to 17，607，000， up 21.4% year on year， accounting for 72.2% of the sales of passenger cars， 3.6 percentage points higher than that over the same period of last year and the contribution rate to auto sales reached 97.9%.

New energy cars developed fast. Sales of new energy cars in 2016 amounted to 507，000， up 53% year on year. Among these， sales of pure electric cars came to 409，000， up 65.1% year on year.