BEIJING - China will reinforce statistical monitoring of e-commerce to make the data a reliable basis for analysis and policymaking, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

By the end of 2022, a comprehensive and advanced e-commerce statistics monitoring system will be established, as well as relevant policies, standards and evaluation systems, the MOC said in a guideline.

The government will build a complete monitoring indicator system, expand the data sources, enhance whole-process quality supervision and explore wider applications of such data.

E-commerce has become a key driver of China's retail market. Online retail sales rose 16.8 percent year-on-year to reach 7.32 trillion yuan ($1.04 trillion) in the first three quarters, MOC data showed.