Chinese courts see sharp rise in online shopping contract disputes

The number of contract disputes involving online shopping rose sharply between 2015 and 2017, according to a report released by China's top court on Wednesday.

Courts filed 9,328 contract disputes related to online purchases in 2016, up by 285 percent year-on-year, the Supreme People's Court's data show.

The authority said the figure rose by 41.93 percent last year to 13,200, and the trend is expected to continue.

The three jurisdictions with the most online shopping contract disputes were Guangdong province, Beijing and Jiangsu province.

Most plaintiffs were age 18 to 29, while the most common defendant was e-commerce giant Alibaba, according to the data.