BEIJING, Jan. 19 -- BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales of consumer goods performed well in December thanks to pro-consumption policies from the government, official data showed Tuesday.

Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, rose 11.1 percent year on year to 2.86 trillion yuan (436 billion U.S. dollars), according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The growth rate was still encouraging although slightly down from 11.2 percent in November.

In 2015, retail sales grew 10.7 percent from a year earlier, slower than the 12-percent increase registered in 2014.

Online sales remained strong last year, jumping 33.3 percent year on year to 3.88 trillion yuan.