The retail volume of China's social consumer goods reached 270 billion yuan (about US$33.3 billion) during the National Day holiday, up 14.2 percent year-on-year, data on the website of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said Saturday.

The retail volume of social consumer goods in Beijing and Chongqing municipalities, Guangdong, Hebei, Jilin, Shanxi and Sichuan provinces saw a surge ranging from 18 percent to 41 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the business volume of the catering industry rose 21 percent to 50 percent, the website said.

It is estimated that the sales volume of gold and jewelry during the week-long holiday saw a year-on-year increase of around 35 percent as business was brisk throughout the country, either because Chinese people prefer to hold their weddings during the National Day holidays, or because they want to buy gold to increase their assets value.

New and high-tech products, such as environment-friendly and energy-saving refrigerators, automatic washing machines and digital household appliances are favored by consumers, according to the website.

China's major appliance chain stores, such as Gome and Suning all reported good sales volume, which saw a rise ranging from 25 percent to 30 percent.

But the car and real estate industries, which used to attract huge numbers of consumers during holidays years ago, seemed to slump a bit during the Golden Week holiday.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2005)