Chinese retail sales accelerate in Dec.

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales grew 15.2 percent year on year in December 2012, accelerating from 14.9 percent in November, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.

The retails sales for 2012 increased 14.3 percent to 20.7 trillion yuan (3.3 trillion U.S. dollars), 2.8 percentage points less than that in 2011, the NBS said.

Of the total, urban consumption expanded 14.3 percent to 17.9 trillion yuan in 2012, while rural residents spent 2.8 trillion yuan, up 14.5 percent.

The catering sector reported 2.3 trillion yuan in revenues, up 13.6 percent from a year earlier, while the retail goods trade was valued at 18.4 trillion yuan, up 14.4 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, retail sales climbed 1.53 percent in December, the NBS data showed.

After being adjusted for inflation, retail sales went up 13.5 percent in December and 12.1 percent in 2012, respectively.