CHINA’S retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country’s consumption strength, maintained stable growth in July, official data showed yesterday.

The retail sales of consumer goods increased 2.5% year on year last month to nearly 3.68 trillion yuan (US$512.22 billion), down from a 3.1% increase in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In the January-July period, the figure increased 7.3%.

The consumer market continued to recover and service consumption grew rapidly, the NBS said in a statement.

“Domestic demand kept growing,” NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference yesterday.

“The service consumption, such as summer vacation tourism, picked up markedly, offering significant support for expanding consumption.”

In July, the catering sector reported a revenue increase of 15.8% from a year earlier. In the first seven months, online retail sales gained 12.5% and service sales surged 20.3%.

But the NBS said domestic demand remains “insufficient” and the “economy’s recovery foundation still needs to be strengthened.”

China needs to “step up macroeconomic policy adjustment, and focus on expanding domestic demand, lifting confidence and preventing risks,” the NBS said in a statement. (SD-Xinhua)