Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (2nd R) presides over a conference on reform of rural supply and marketing cooperatives in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 12, 2018. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang Friday stressed reform of China's rural supply and marketing cooperatives to provide greater impetus for China's rural revitalization.

"As a key platform for serving rural residents and an important force in boosting the economic and social development in rural areas, China's rural supply and marketing cooperatives should reform its institutions and expand its strength to make greater contribution to the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas," Wang told a conference.

Wang encouraged rural supply and marketing cooperatives to improve and upgrade the traditional business network with modern distribution methods and information technologies to better serve farmers.

Helped by rising e-commerce revenues, sales of China's rural supply and marketing cooperatives nationwide reached 3.69 trillion yuan (about 560 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of 2017, up 15.3 percent year on year.

Thanks to the rapid development of rural e-commerce, online transaction turnover totaled 611.8 billion yuan in the first nine months, up 25.7 percent year on year.

In 2016, sales of China's supply and marketing cooperatives stood at 4.78 trillion yuan, up 10.9 percent year on year.