The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on November 13 that retail sales of consumable goods totaled 302.9 billion yuan in October, 10.4 percent more than one year ago. The growth rate was also 2.2 percentage points higher compared with the same month last year.

At the same time, the growth gap between the urban and rural markets continued to widen to a record 3.8 percentage points in October. Retail sales in urban areas grew 11.9 percent year-on-year during the month, while rural areas saw an 8.1 percent growth.

Sources said that the long National Day vocation, around October 1, helped boost the sales. According to a survey of retail and catering enterprises in 21 major tourist cities in the country, sales in both the retail and catering industries increased to a double-digit rate over the seven-day holiday.

(People’s Daily 11/13/2000)