China's Q3 online shopping tops 450 bln yuan

Workers sort outpiled-up packages at YTO Express' sorting center in east China'sShanghai Municipality, Nov. 9, 2013. As the Chinese grassroots'self-proclaimed Singles' Day, which falls on November 11, gainspopularity, the country's e-commerce websites have grasped thechance to make money. The surging package volume caused greatpressure for many express delivery companies. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)

Online shopping in China surged in the third quarter of the year with transactions totaling 454.76 billion yuan (about 74.62 billion U.S. dollars), data showed on Thursday.

The figure was a 42.4 percent year-on-year increase, according to a report released by iResearch, China's leading Internet industry research company.

Two factors contributed to the surging trend, online shopping in third and fourth tier cities and better marketing by e-business firms, said the report.

Business-to-customer (B2C) platforms covered about 36.6 percent of the online shopping transaction volume, a growth of 5.6 percentage points compared with the third quarter last year.

B2C gained more popularity because of higher quality and business reputation compared to customer-to-customer (C2C) online sales, said the report.