The Chinese capital of Beijing notched a record of 18.77 billion yuan (approximately  US$2.26 billion) in retail sales of consumer commodities in January, up 15% from the same month last year.

Sources from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce said that retailing of food reached 5.48 billion yuan in the past month, up 21.2 percent, and retail sales of garments rose by 25.9 percent to hit 2.69 billion yuan, while retail sales of commodities for general use 9.93 billion yuan, up 9.4 percent.

Plenty of shopping for the New Year's Day and the traditional Spring Festival, or the Chinese lunar calendar that fell on January 22, is cited as the main factor propelling retailing business on the consumer goods market to a new record high, said an official with the bureau.

Catering trade was particularly brisk during the Spring Festival -- the most important festival for the people of Chinese origin and a very special occasion for reunions of kinsfolk, relatives and friends.

The retail sales with the catering trade in the municipality was 1.2 billion yuan in January, up 11.7 percent.

Business was also bustling on the capital's automobile market, which sold out a total of 39,500 automobiles in the past month, a jump of 81.7 percent. Out of the autos traded, new models made up 29,700.

(Xinhua News Agency February 17, 2004)