MOFCOM: Service Retail Sales Up 4.9% in Jan-Aug

Data from the consumption promotion department of China's Ministry of Commerce shows that in January-August this year, total retail sales of consumer goods and services rose 2.5% year on year, while service retail sales grew 4.9%, outpacing goods retail sales by 3.9 percentage points. Retail sales in tourism consulting and rental services and in cultural and sports leisure services maintained rapid growth. Over the same period, rural consumer goods retail sales reached 4.4 trillion yuan, up 2.3%, 1.3 percentage points faster than urban areas; county and township consumer goods sales accounted for 39% of total retail sales of consumer goods, up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier.