A host shows products to visitors during a livestream event in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. [Photo/zgyww.cn]

Yiwu's online retail sales reached 69.42 billion yuan ($10.36 billion) in the first five months of 2022, ranking first among all cities and districts in East China's Zhejiang province, according to the latest data from the local government.

According to the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, from January to May this year, the province's online retail sales totaled 837.26 billion yuan. Yiwu, Hangzhou's Binjiang district and Yuhang district ranked among the top three in the province.

Clothes, shoes and bags, home decorations and 3C digital products (computers, communication and consumer electronics) ranked the top categories in terms of online sales, accounting for 27.1 percent, 18.5 percent and 16.7 percent of the total online retail sales, respectively.

In light of the recent outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic, the local government of Yiwu has released various measures to support e-commerce merchants and organized events to promote consumption.