China's retail sales up 2.7 pct in July

BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, went up 2.7 percent year on year in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.

The growth slowed from a 3.1-percent increase registered in June.

NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui attributed the slower growth to sporadic COVID-19 resurgences and moderate auto sales.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods totaled around 3.59 trillion yuan (about 532.6 billion U.S. dollars) in July, according to the NBS.

In the first seven months, China's total retail sales of consumer goods stood at 24.63 trillion yuan, down 0.2 percent year on year.

"Although the growth of retail sales tempered in July, the recovery trend of consumption remains unchanged," Fu said.

Last month, sales of daily necessities sustained steady growth. Sales of beverage jumped 3 percent year on year in July, and sales of grain, edible oil and other food products rose 6.2 percent, NBS data showed.

Online consumption continued to shore up retail sales. In the first seven months, online sales of physical goods climbed 5.7 percent year on year, up 0.1 percentage point from that in the January-June period.

Sales of major supermarkets grew 4.1 percent year on year in the first seven months, while that of convenience stores rose 4.6 percent from a year ago, data showed.

With policies to boost demand taking effect, the decline in catering revenue has narrowed. The sector saw its revenues fall 1.5 percent year on year in July, narrowing by 2.5 percentage points from the previous month.

With pro-consumption policies, supportive measures for enterprises and an improving consumption environment in place, China's consumption will sustain recovery momentum and become a stronger engine of economic growth despite all challenges, Fu noted.