Beijing registers higher retail sales of consumer goods in January-August

Beijing registered higher retail sales of consumer goods during the January-August period this year, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

From January to August, the municipality's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 774.61 billion yuan (about 110 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 5.3 percent year on year, according to the bureau.

Among the total, the online retail sales volume of major wholesale and retail enterprises was 201.42 billion yuan, up by 27.5 percent over the same period of last year.

In terms of consumption patterns, the retail sales of commodities reached 696.58 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.1 percent. Catering revenue was 78.02 billion yuan, up 6.8 percent year on year.

Retail sales of cultural and office supplies reached 49.18 billion yuan, up 25.4 percent year on year. Sales of daily necessities rose 28.5 percent to 33.93 billion yuan, and sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment increased 19.7 percent to 43.75 billion yuan.

Each of the three categories has helped increase the total retail sales of consumer goods by at least one percentage point, the bureau said.