Growth in rural markets and retail shopping, especially for winter clothing, gave Beijing consumer sales a lucrative lift of 8.8 percent in November.

The city's retail turnover totaled 11.26 billion yuan (US$1.36 billion) in November, an increase over September and October, according to sources from the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau.

The sources noted that real growth after deducting price elements was 10.7 percent and this increase was attributed to clothing sales and the effect of promotions in the capital's major department stores.

Garment sales rose by 15.9 percent to 1.46 billion yuan (US$176 million ) in November, sustaining the positive trend of October. Winter apparel such as leather, cashmere sweater pushed up the November figure, the sources said.

Telecommunication facilities, jewelry, stationery, and basic household goods also drove up consumer spending. But many groceries just sat on the shelf last month. Food sales rang up 3.11 billion yuan (US$375 million) in November, 3.2 percent lower than in October and among the slowest growth of all consumer good.

To make up for the food slump, Beijing's rural markets continued to outpace more urbanized ones last months, rising 14.5 percent in turnover to 1.64 billion yuan (US$198 million). City markets showed an increase of 7.9 percent to 9.62 billion yuan (US$1.16 billion ).

Booming trade and improved transportation caused the rural markets growth, the city statistics bureau sources said.

In addition, the manufacturing industry realized 700 million yuan (US$84 million) of the retail sale volume in November, up 27 percent on an monthly basis.

The sources said the growth was fueled by the restructuring of the city's industries, especially high-tech industries.