A woman sits next to her shopping bags nearby a shopping mall in Beijing in this file photo. China’s retail sales are expected to have grown 8.2 percent in the first half of 2019 from a year earlier, a commerce ministry official said Tuesday. Chinese retail sales have slowed in recent years, with growth hitting a 16-year low earlier this year due to increased consumer caution amid trade tensions with the United States. Apart from May’s surprise slowdown to 7.2 percent, monthly retail sales growth stayed above 8 percent in the first half of 2019.SD-Agencies