Photo taken on March 21, 2016 shows an electric board showing the moment when Alibaba China retail marketplaces real-time gross merchandise value (GMV) in fiscal year 2016 reached three trillion RMB (about 463 billion U.S. dollars) in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. This means Alibaba Group, China's leading e-commerce company, might exceed Wal-Mart and become the world's biggest retail platform in fiscal year 2016, according to analysis. [Xinhua]

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group announced on Monday afternoon that transaction volume on its sites hit 3 trillion yuan ($463 billion), an equivalent GDP value of 3.01 trillion yuan in China's southeastern Sichuan province last year.

The company made the announcement at its Hangzhou headquarters the gross merchandise volume or GMV, is a measure of the total value of third party sellers' transactions on Alibaba's platforms.

The number marks a milestone for the company that it could overtake Walmart to become the world's largest retail network in the fiscal year ending later this month.

Walmart posted revenue at more than 480 billion U.S. dollars for the fiscal year ending Jan 31, while Alibaba's 2015 revenue stands less than 15 billion U.S. dollars.