China's retail sales grow in 2012

China is continuing its shift towards a more domestic consumption led economy. The Commerce Ministry says domestic consumption continued to grow at a relatively fast pace in 2012.

In a survey of 3000 retailers across the country, these companies saw an 8.3 percent jump in revenue for the whole year, while the pace of revenue growth stayed above 8-percent for five consecutive months.

Central and western China reported a faster expansion rate, as sales in central provinces rose 10.7 percent, while sales in western provinces grew at a similar pace as well.

Breaking down the numbers in detail food sales climbed more than 11 percent last year, as did the sales of precious metals and jewellery. In contrast, home appliance sales dipped 1.1 percent and auto sales rose only 7.4 percent. This is the second consecutive year that car sales increased at a single digit pace.