Retail sales on the mainland rose by 15.4 per cent year on year in the first half, signalling domestic consumption's increasing role in boosting economic growth, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.
Retail sales revenue rose to 4.2 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, rising at the fastest clip since 1997, statistics bureau spokesman Li Xiaochao said.
The growth rate in sales was also 2.1 percentage points higher than the growth rate in the same period last year, he said.
Investment in fixed assets increased by 25.9 per cent year on year, Mr Li said.
'Since this year, China's economy has been growing quarter after quarter and, apart from exports, changes in domestic consumption are also a major reason,' Mr Li said.
'Consumption is playing a bigger role in China's economic growth.'
Bureau figures showed that retail sales increased by 14.9 per cent in the first quarter and 15.8 per cent in the second quarter. In June alone, they went up by 16 per cent.
