Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080613/article_363088.htm
Retail sales grow at slower pace in May
Created: 2008-6-13 11:53:04
Author:Lydia Chen
CHINA'S retail sales grew at a slower pace last month.
Sales climbed 21.6 percent from a year earlier to 870.4 billion yuan (US$126 billion) last month after gaining 22 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics announced this morning.
Spending in urban areas accelerated 22.3 percent to 594.7 billion yuan, faster than sales in rural areas, which grew 20.1 percent to 275.7 billion yuan.
Household spending accounted for 36 percent of China's gross domestic product last year compared with more than 50 percent in the United States, Japan and India.
Sales of meat, poultry and eggs surged 25.4 percent last month from a year earlier, while grain and cooking oil spending swelled 27.6 percent.
Through May, retail sales rose 21.1 percent from a year ago to 4.24 trillion yuan.
Consumer prices, the main gauge of inflation, slowed to 7.7 percent in May from April's 8.5 percent thanks to falling food costs, the bureau said yesterday.
China's economy, the world's fourth largest, expanded 10.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. The average urban wage climbed 18 percent to 6,524 yuan for the three months.
Sales climbed 21.6 percent from a year earlier to 870.4 billion yuan (US$126 billion) last month after gaining 22 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics announced this morning.
Spending in urban areas accelerated 22.3 percent to 594.7 billion yuan, faster than sales in rural areas, which grew 20.1 percent to 275.7 billion yuan.
Household spending accounted for 36 percent of China's gross domestic product last year compared with more than 50 percent in the United States, Japan and India.
Sales of meat, poultry and eggs surged 25.4 percent last month from a year earlier, while grain and cooking oil spending swelled 27.6 percent.
Through May, retail sales rose 21.1 percent from a year ago to 4.24 trillion yuan.
Consumer prices, the main gauge of inflation, slowed to 7.7 percent in May from April's 8.5 percent thanks to falling food costs, the bureau said yesterday.
China's economy, the world's fourth largest, expanded 10.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. The average urban wage climbed 18 percent to 6,524 yuan for the three months.
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