THE Chinese retail market is poised to become the first in the world to be dominated by e-commerce transactions as Chinese New Year retail sales beat expectations, reported Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

Research firm eMarketer expects 52.1 per cent of China's total retail sales to come from e-commerce transactions in 2021, increasing from 44.8 per cent last year.

"That means that for the first time anywhere, a majority of retail sales for an entire country will transact online," said the firm.

No other country comes close to China in terms of e-commerce sales. South Korea is expected to see 28.9 per cent of its retail market based online this year, while the United States will hit 15 per cent the report said.