BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's online retail sales of goods rose 14.8 percent year on year to 9.8 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2020, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed Tuesday.

China has ranked the largest online retail market in the world for eight years in a row, the MOC said, noting that online retail sales accounted for 24.9 percent of the country's total retail sales volume last year.

Surging online sales boosted the courier sector, with a total of 83.36 billion parcels being delivered through the year.

In 2020, e-commerce sales via livestreaming also gained popularity, with more than 20 million livestreaming marketing activities taking place.

The MOC data also showed that the country's imports of consumer goods increased by 8.2 percent year on year to 1.57 trillion yuan.