Chinese online retail group Alibaba has seen a sharp increase in sales across the world, with sales via mobile outstripping desktop sales.

International sales increased by 123% to 1.1bn yuan ($165m, £127m) between April and June, whilst total sales rose 59%, its highest quarterly sales growth on record since its flotation in 2014.

Founded by the billionaire Jack Ma, the group’s figures benefitted from the purchase of Lazada – a Singapore based e-tail firm.

Chief executive Daniel Zhang commented: “Our results show the scale and leverage of our ecosystem, as we strengthen our competitive positions in core commerce, cloud computing and digital media and entertainment.
“We are changing the way our 434 million active buyers engage with our platform, as we introduce social, community and personalization driven by smart data into our e-commerce marketplaces.”