China's retail sales up 8.2 pct in H1

Customers drink beer at a night market in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, July 14, 2023. With fireworks and light shows illuminating the sky, the 33rd Qingdao International Beer Festival kicked off in the coastal city of Qingdao. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales of consumer goods went up 8.2 percent year on year in the first half (H1) of this year, 2.4 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

In June alone, retail sales was up 3.1 percent year on year, data from the NBS showed.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods totaled around 22.76 trillion yuan (about 3.19 trillion U.S. dollars) in H1, the NBS said.