(Yicai Global) Nov. 13 -- China led the global e-commerce market with a share of 40 percent last year.

The second-, third- and fourth-largest markets were the US, the UK and Japan with USD312.1 billion, USD150 billion and USD90 billion of online shopping (excluding purchases of services), respectively, last year. Their combined value was no match for China's USD750 billion, per a report from CCTV Finance and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' National Academy of Economic Strategy.

China had 751 million internet users as of June this year and an internet penetration rate of 54.3 percent, TechWeb reported.

China's online retail sales volume from October of last year to September of this year was nearly USD1 trillion (CNY6.6 trillion), representing a 38-percent annual increase to a new high. The online sales volume of physical goods and services were nearly CNY5.08 trillion and CNY1.49 trillion, respectively.

With a 38.3-percent growth rate outpacing that of cities by 5.6 percentage points, rural Chinese areas' online retail sales volume rose to CNY836.14 billion, accounting for nearly 17 percent of the county's online retail sales. China had 8.32 million rural online shops, creating over 20 million jobs, as of the end of last year.

China's cross-border e-commerce transactions totaled CNY3.6 trillion in the first half, marking an annual increase of 30 percent, Ministry of Commerce data show. Exports and imports were worth CNY2.75 trillion and CNY862.4 billion, respectively.