It takes a village to play bigger role in e-commerce of nation

Counties and villages have been playing bigger roles in boosting economic development thanks to the country's robust e-commerce wave, which helps residents in less-developed regions to spend more through online shopping and make more money by setting up online stores.

E-commerce growth in counties and villages outpaced that of cities by 13.6 percentage points in 2013, according to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's largest e-commerce group.

The Hangzhou-based company said in its first edition of the County-level Economy and E-commerce Forum on Thursday that less-developed regions have become a new growth point for Internet commerce.