China retail sales surprise

October figures for China retail sales show a surprise 11 per cent leap year on year.

It seems that while the commentators were talking about how China’s economy was nodding off, consumers were out spending.

Total retail sales of consumer goods during the month reached 2,827.9 billion yuan, or US$442.939 billion.

From January to October, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 24,435.9 billion yuan, up by 10.6 percent year-on-year.

October retail sales in urban areas rose 10.8 per cent and in rural areas by 12.2 per cent.

From January to October, retail sales in urban areas rose 10.4 per cent and in rural areas by 11.8 per cent.

Online sales for the first nine months of this year totalled 2,948.4 billion yuan, an increase of 34.6 per cent year-on-year. Sales of  food and clothing rose 41.2 per cent and 24.4 per cent respectively.