BEIJING, Dec. 10 -- Retail sales in China grew 14.2 percent year on year to 18.68 trillion yuan (2.97 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first 11 months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Sunday.p In November, retail sales, one of the country's key growth drivers, hit 1.85 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.9 percent over the same period last year, the NBS said.

The growth rate was faster than the 14.5-percent increase registered in October, NBS data showed.

Urban consumption expanded 15 percent from a year earlier to 1.6 trillion yuan in November, while rural residents spent 244.6 billion yuan, up 14.6 percent.

The catering sector reported 211.5 billion yuan in revenue in November, up 14.2 percent year on year, while the retail goods trade was valued at 1.64 trillion yuan, up 15 percent.

The data were issued along with a string of other key economic indicators. The NBS said Sunday morning that the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2 percent in November from 1.7 percent in October.