Retails sales in one thousand major shopping stores across China witnessed a 13 percent growth year on year, during the past 3 day new year holiday. This is according to the newly released figures from the Ministry of Commerce. Meanwhile, some stores in the capital have reported increased sales of between 30 and 50 percent over last year's holiday season.

The Beijing Commercial Information Consulting Center reports that during New Year Holiday, sales revenues from over 100 major shopping centers in Beijing topped over 1 billion yuan. Shoppers filled stories and searched for bargains, many of them attracted by special deals.

A shopper says, "I have been checking this item for quite a while. But the price is 300 yuan cheaper now. It's a really good deal, so I bought it today."

Li Weiwei, Deputy Inspector of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, "the municipal authorities have launched various measures to protect the interests of consumers. People can get very good discount offerings this holiday season, helping to boost retail sales."

In some popular malls in Beijing, the number of customers reached more than 20,000 per day, during the 3-day holiday. And sales in some stores were up as much as 50 percent over last year's holiday period.

Wang Chunli, General Manager of Beijing Caishikou General Merchandise, says, "on the first day of 2009, our sales was 60 million yuan. On January 2nd, our revenue was 50 million yuan. It's really a harvest for us."

The food industry has also enjoyed brisk business. Figures show that during the 3-day holiday, some major restaurants in Beijing have reported nearly 70 percent higher business revenues over the same period last year. And New Year's holiday dinners were also very popular. To spur demand, many big hotels launched various promotions to attract consumers.

(CCTV January 5, 2009)