Retail Sales of Consumer Goods hit 7.27t Yuan in H1

BEIJING, July 16 --The total retail sales of consumer goods reached 7.27 trillion yuan ($1.07 trillion) in the first half of this year, a year-on-year growth of 18.2 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Thursday.

The retail sales in cities reached 6.27 trillion yuan, up 18.6 percent from a year ago, and the retail sales in rural areas topped 1 trillion yuan, up 15.6 percent.

China's auto sales in the first half of the year rose 37.1 percent from a year earlier, furniture sales were up 38.5 percent and home appliances sales climbed 28.8 percent.

The government rolled out a series of incentives early 2009 to bolster consumption to counter fallout from the global economic downturn, including subsidies for home appliances in rural areas and tax breaks for auto purchases, among others.