BEIJING, Sep. 11 -- China's retail sales of consumer goods in August hit 1.26 trillion yuan (185.4 billion U.S. dollars ), up 18.4 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Saturday.

The growth rate in August was 0.5 percentage points higher than in July, the NBS said.

The August increase brought the total retail sales in the first eight months to 9.75 trillion yuan, up 18.2 percent over the same period last year.

Urban consumption hit 1.09 trillion yuan in August, up 18.8 percent, while rural residents spent 164 billion yuan, up 15.9 percent.

The catering sector reported 147.1 billion yuan of revenues in August, up 18.8 percent year on year. While the retail goods trade was valued at 1.11 trillion yuan, up 18.4 percent.