From January to April, Quanzhou, a city in East China's Fujian province, achieved online retail sales of 62.12 billion yuan ($8.72 billion), a year-on-year increase of 17.8 percent and the highest figure in the province.

The online retail sales in April alone reached 23.97 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.2 percent.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, traditional products in Quanzhou such as clothing, shoes, hats and textiles made up for the loss of physical sales through online livestreaming and broadcasts.

Online celebrities introduce Quanzhou's special products through online livestreaming activities. [Photo/qzwb.com]

In April, Quanzhou launched various livestreaming activities, achieving online retail sales of 14.06 billion yuan in products such as clothing, shoes, hats and textiles.

Due to the epidemic, many agricultural products were slow to sell, but new business formats such as e-commerce sales and online livestreaming have effectively promoted the sales of agricultural products. This has not only increased farmers' incomes and stimulated the vitality of characteristic industries, but also helped with poverty alleviation.

In the first four months of the year, the online retail sales of rural areas in Quanzhou equaled 46.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.8 percent. Of these sales, the online retail sales of agricultural products reached 3.01 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.7 percent.

Next, Quanzhou will continue to promote its online economy and the recovery of the consumer market. It will accelerate the construction of more industrial livestreaming broadcast bases, building on the success of existing ones.