Online sales of household electrical appliances hit 53 billion yuan (8.59 billion U.S.dollars) in the first half of the year, accounting for 17.7 percent of China's online retail market, according to a report released Monday at an e-commerce forum.

The report listed improvements in the areas of delivery, payment and after-sale services as reasons for the growing sales.

More than 2 million flat-panel TVs were sold online in the first half, representing a growth rate of over 100 percent, the report said.

Leading business-to-customer (B2C) retailers Jingdong, TMall and Suning accounted for more than 90 percent of online home appliance sales, the report added.

Online sales of home appliances are moving beyond first-tier cities and expanding to second- and third-tier cities, according to An Hui, a researcher at the China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute, which organized Monday's forum.

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