China's retail sales up 2.7% in July year-on-year

China's domestic consumption continued to expand in July, with consumption of services and upgraded industrial goods growing at a faster pace, showcasing the country's vast potential in ramping up consumption and economic growth.

In July, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.7757 trillion yuan ($527 billion), up 2.7 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.

The sales of upgraded industrial goods grew rapidly. The retail sales of communication equipment increased by 12.7 percent among enterprises above the designated size (wholesale with an annual income of 20 million yuan or more, retail enterprises with an annual income of 5 million yuan or more, accommodation and catering enterprises with an annual income of 2 million yuan or more).

It is worth noting that retail sales of sports and entertainment goods increased by 10.7 percent on a yearly basis, a growth that was greatly boosted by sports events such as the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and consumers' growing leisure consumption.

Retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas witnessed a year-on-year growth of 4.6 percent, reaching 506.6 billion yuan. Analysts attribute the growth in rural markets partly to the rapid development of China's express delivery sector, which boosted online retail sales through e-commerce.

From January to July, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 27.3726 trillion yuan, up 3.5 percent year-on-year, according to the NBS.

China's online retail sales reached 8.3784 trillion yuan, up 9.5 percent. Online retail sales of goods reached 7.0093 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.7 percent, accounting for 25.6 percent of the total retail sales.

Consumption related to services showcased a boom as well. In the January-July period, retail sales of services increased by 7.2 percent year-on-year, read NBS data.

The revenue of the catering industry stood at 440.3 billion yuan in July, up by 3.0 percent.

Analysts said that consumption of entertainment, accommodation, transportation, catering, tourism and other services showed a steady recovering trend. China's consumption has shown some structural improvement, and the consumption of upgraded industrial goods has increased.

Additionally, experts stated that in the future, the consumer demand for services such as medical care, education and elderly care, will continue to rise.