China's e-commerce sales in January-April 2019 'growing steadily' - Chinese report

China's e-commerce grew steadily in the first four months of this year. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the growth of digital consumption is accelerating, with online sales of digital products up 8% year-on-year.
In particular, AI robots and smart home systems showed strong growth, increasing by 87.6% and 16%, respectively.
Sales of products covered by the replacement policy also showed relatively high growth rates.
Online sales of 15 types of home appliances and digital products increased by 11.5% year-on-year. The growth in service consumption was remarkable, and the Ministry of Commerce has been focusing on online service consumption.
In the second quarter, online entertainment services and online travel-related services both grew by more than 20%.