Chen Xiao, president of electrical appliances retailer Gome, has revealed plans to invest in ecommerce to grow sales. Online sales were just Yn400m (£40.4m) in 2009, accounting for less than 1% of total retail sales.

About 40% of its products are now available for sale online and the service is only available in the most economically developed regions of the country. The aim is to relaunch the ecommerce division in an attempt to achieve sales of Yn1bn to Yn20bn (£100.9m to £2bn) in the next three to five years.