The online sales value in China almost doubled in the first nine months of this year from a year ago, a senior official at the Ministry of Commerce said.

Domestic Internet users spent 168.9 billion yuan (US$25 billion) on online shopping by the end of September, a 90 percent surge from the same period in 2008, Di Jiankai, head of the Department of Commerce Services Administration at the ministry, said.

The transaction value for the whole year is expected at 260 billion yuan, the ministry said.

Shanghai-based iResearch Inc, an Internet consultancy, said in a report that the online shopping transaction value in China was 128.18 billion yuan in 2008. Taobao.com, the nation's market leader, transacted 99.96 billion yuan last year. The figure is expected to reach 200 billion yuan this year, Alibaba Group Chairman Jack Ma said in November.

By the end of June, there were 87.88 million online shoppers in China, according to official data.

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