China´s retail sales up 20.2%

China's retail sales grew by more than 20 percent in January and February from a year earlier, supported by strong consumer spending. This is the highest growth rate since the government started gathering monthly data in 1999.

Total retail sales volume stood at 1.7 trillion yuan in the first two months. The annual growth rate in urban areas was slightly higher than that in rural areas. Broken down by industry, hotels and restaurants led all sectors with a yearly growth of more than 23 percent.

In terms of commodities, sales of grain and cooking oil increased by 41 percent. Jewelry sales jumped nearly 47 percent from a year earlier. Refined oil products sales rose 40 percent, while sales of Building materials were down by 10 percent.