Retail News
- Retail sales post rapid rise
Date: 13-Sep-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
RETAIL sales across the country grew by the largest rate in more than three years during August bolstered by rising incomes, stock market gains, and a decade-high inflation rate, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.
Sales climbed 17.1 percent to 711.7 billion yuan (US$95 billion) in August after rising 16.4 percent in July. The pace of growth was the fastest since May 2004.
Spending on jewelry climbed 53.3 percent in August from a year earlier, while sales of meat, poultry and eggs jumped 45.2 percent and sales of vehicles increased 42.3 percent, the bureau said.
'Robust spending is underpinned by higher household income as well as earnings from the booming equity market,'said Li Mingliang, an analyst at Haitong Securities Co.
Consumer price index in August expanded 6.5 percent, the fastest pace since December 1996, driven by a 18.2 percent increase in food prices. Meat and poultry prices soared 49 percent while egg costs surged 23.6 percent.
Retail sales growth will remain strong, supported by the positive wealth effects from the stock market boom, analysts said.
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