Retail sales of consumer goods in China totaled 3.587 trillion yuan in July, up 2.7 percent from the same period last year, down 0.4 percent from the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics released data on Aug. 15. Of this total, retail sales of consumer goods other than cars totaled 3.2046 trillion yuan, up 1.9 percent.

From January to July, retail sales of consumer goods totaled 24.6302 trillion yuan, down 0.2 percent from the same period last year, which was 0.5 percentage points lower than that in January-June. Of this total, retail sales of consumer goods other than cars totaled 22.1332 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.2 percent.

Retail sales of automobiles and petroleum and products continue the upward trend and upgrade sales are relatively strong.

According to the location of the business unitIn July, retail sales of consumer goods in cities and towns totaled 3.1205 trillion yuan, up 2.7 percent from the same period last year, while retail sales of rural consumer goods totaled 466.5 billion yuan, up 2.6 percent. From January to July, retail sales of consumer goods in cities and towns totaled 21.391 trillion yuan, down 0.3 percent from the same period last year, while retail sales of rural consumer goods totaled 3.2391 trillion yuan, up 0.1 percent.

By type of consumptionIn July, retail sales totaled 3.2176 trillion yuan, up 3.2 percent from the same period last year, while catering revenue was 369.4 billion yuan, down 1.5 percent. From January to July, retail sales totaled 22.2568 trillion yuan, up 0.5 percent from the same period last year, while catering revenue totaled 2.3734 trillion yuan, down 6.8 percent.

By retail formatFrom January to July, the retail sales of supermarkets, convenience stores and professional stores in retail units above the quota increased by 4.1%, 4.6% and 3.7% respectively compared with the same period last year, while department stores and specialty stores decreased by 7.4% and 2.3% respectively.

From January to July, online retail sales nationwide totaled 7.3224 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.2 percent over the same period last year. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods totaled 6.3153 trillion yuan, up 5.7 percent, accounting for 25.6 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods. Among the online retail sales of physical goods, food, clothing and household goods increased by 15.7 percent, 3.4 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively.

The basic living consumption increases steadily.The retail sales of grain, oil, food and beverage commodities above the quota increased by 6.2% and 3.0% respectively.

The sales of upgraded commodities are growing rapidly.The retail sales of gold, silver and jewelry, cultural and office supplies, household appliances and audio-visual equipment above the quota increased by 22.1%, 11.5% and 7.1% respectively.

Retail sales of automobiles and petroleum and products increased by 9.7% and 14.2% respectively.