Retail sales in April grew by 9.1 per cent to 257.15 billion yuan (US$30.98 billion), a report from the bureau said. April is usually a sluggish season for the retail market, but the government's stimulus package to gear up consumer spending since the middle of last year, including pay rises for the poorer urban residents and interest rate cuts, has propped up the growth this year, NBS analysts said.

It helped the retail sales maintain a steady growth in the month, which was 3.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

Pre-holiday shopping sprees ahead of International Labour Day on May 1 and the seasonal sales in department stores also boosted spending. The sales of air conditioners in Beijing grew by 110 per cent in April year-on-year.

Retail sales in cities rose 9.8 per cent last month to 158.25 billion yuan (US$19.066 billion). Sales in counties and rural areas stood at 98.8 billion yuan (US$11.9 billion) in April, 8 per cent up over the same period last year.

China's retail sales rose 6.8 per cent last year. The real growth was 10.1 per cent after deducting price factors, as compared with a 9.7 per cent growth in 1998.

China has been keen to tackle the problems of weak domestic demand and irregular industrial structure in the past two years.

Experts said the government is likely to take further steps to stimulate domestic demand, such as further pay rises this year.

(China Daily)