Beijing's retail sales see robust growth in Jan-July

BEIJING - The Chinese capital of Beijing witnessed a year-on-year growth of 19.2 percent in retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption growth, in the first seven months this year, the Beijing municipal statistics bureau said.

From January to July, Beijing's retail sales of consumer goods reached 833.19 billion yuan ($128.56 billion).

In terms of consumption patterns, the retail sales of commodities reached 765.97 billion yuan, up by 16.4 percent year-on-year, and catering revenue was 67.22 billion yuan, surging by 65.7 percent year-on-year.

In the same period, the retail sales of gold, silver, and jewelry products registered 16.68 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 56.5 percent. Meanwhile, the retail sales of beverage products topped 14.05 billion yuan, up by 53.9 percent year-on-year, said the bureau.