China's retail sales surged 14.1 percent in November from a year earlier to 682.2 billion yuan, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

 

The growth rate is 1.7 percentage points higher than last November but dropped slightly from October's 14.3 percent.

 

China's retail sales increased 13.6 percent year-on-year to 6.9 trillion yuan through November. The growth rate is only 0.7 percentage point faster than the same period of last year.

 

Sales of grain and edible oils in November climbed 26.7 percent from a year earlier while architecture and decoration materials sales rose 23.2 percent.

 

Telecommunications equipment sales grew 17.6 percent from a year earlier, auto sales rose 27.7 percent and sales of oil and related products went up 34.2 percent.

 

The surging retail sales, the main gauge of consumer spending, have lifted up consumer prices, which, mainly stimulated by the higher prices for food, rose by 1.9 percent in November from a year earlier.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2006)