Online shopping firms see rise in mobile business

Shopping via mobile devices is catching on rapidly in China, with the country's Internet giant Alibaba Group announcing that its Taobao mobile shopping app had attracted 100 million new users in the first half of this year.

Taobao.com, which is owned by Alibaba, said in a news release on Thursday that there had been a threefold increase in the number of customers in the first half compared with the same period last year. It included both active users of the company's mobile shopping apps and those who visited its online marketplaces via mobile devices.

The company did not disclose the total value of purchases made via mobile devices, but it said its share of total online transactions through mobile shopping had risen massively between January and June.