Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, has seen rapid growth in its e-commerce sector in recent years.

Official data show that Jinan's online trading volume reached 803.277 billion yuan ($119.89 billion) in 2018, ranking second in the province, with a year-on-year growth of 23.66 percent.

Several "hidden champions" – e-commerce companies renowned in the e-commerce field but relatively unknown outside the industry – are becoming a major driving force behind this growth.

These companies can be found in various sectors such as clothing, shoes, bags, 3C digital products, automobile accessories, food, and health care.

Handu Group, a Jinan-based online clothing retailer founded in 2006, has developed into one of the largest online ecological operation groups in China, with annual sales of 1.5 billion yuan.

Century Innovation Co is the only e-commerce enterprise among China's top 100 printing and packaging enterprises in 2018. Its platform turnover reached 2.7 billion yuan.

Shandong Yundun Technology Co is China's largest e-commerce trade platform in auto parts and has accumulated sales of more than 15 billion yuan.

The city's booming e-commerce industry also benefits from the favorable e-commerce environment.

To date, the city government has built one national demonstration base and five provincial demonstration bases to bolster e-commerce.

It also launched a municipal e-commerce public service platform to provide services in personnel training, research and design, exhibition exchange and product promotion. The platform has serviced more than 100 institutions and 50,000 retailers.

Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, has seen rapid growth in its e-commerce sector in recent years. [Photo/ijinan.jinannews.cn]

Jinan hosts several renowned exhibitions offering online retailers a chance to share ideas. [Photo/ijinan.jinannews.cn]