China's retail sales up 4.9 pct in October

People select vegetables at a market in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales of consumer goods went up 4.9 percent year on year in October, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods totaled around 4.05 trillion yuan (about 633 billion U.S. dollars) in October, according to the NBS.

The figure increased by 9.4 percent from October 2019, putting the two-year average growth at 4.6 percent, said the NBS.

In the January-October period, China's total retail sales of consumer goods stood at 35.85 trillion yuan, up 14.9 percent year on year.

The October figure reflects resilience in China's consumption recovery, highlighting a steady rebound in the sales of consumer goods, as well as the strong internal impetus and new consumption patterns supporting the growth, said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui.

In the first 10 months, China's online retail sales rose 17.4 percent year on year to reach about 10.38 trillion yuan, NBS data showed.

But, the complex and rapidly changing international environment, the raging pandemic and the sporadic resurgence of domestic COVID-19 cases are still restricting consumption activities that require contact, Fu cautioned.

He, however, expressed confidence that China's economic recovery, employment expansion, residential income increase and improvement in the social safety net will sustain growth in consumption.