(Yicai Global) May 5 -- Entertainment services emerged as the growth leader in rural China's e-commerce sector, an industry the central government has been promoting to improve farmers' welfare.

The rapid growth of e-commerce outside of cities has played a positive role in boosting economic development in the areas, the Ministry of Commerce said online yesterday, by increasing farmers' incomes and improving their standard of living. It hopes to get more villages online and further develop logistics networks in far-out regions to maintain the growth in online shopping.

In the first quarter, online retail sales in the countryside soared to CNY250 billion (USD36.3 billion), up 36.6 percent from the same period last year, the ministry added, with sales of physical goods reaching almost CNY149 billion, a 30 percent gain.

The fastest growth came from the services sector, sales came in at CNY101 billion, lower than that of goods but skyrocketing 47.5 percent from the first quarter of 2016. Tourism products leapt 36 percent to CNY38 billion, sales of rural dining services surged to CNY33.7 billion, up 78 percent, while entertainment services more than doubled to CNY4.2 billion, representing a new area of key growth.

By region, online sales in rural areas of the east were CNY154 billion, a 24.6 percent climb. Sales in the central and western countryside jumped 53.3 percent and 69.6 percent to CNY52.4 billion and CNY38.4 billion respectively. China's northeastern regions saw the fastest growth, gaining 85 percent on the year to CNY6 billion.