China's retail sales of goods, services up 2.7 pct in first half of 2026

 China's total retail sales of goods and services, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, increased by 2.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2026, official data showed Wednesday.

The retail sales of services increased by 5.3 percent in the period from a year ago, and that of goods increased by 1.1 percent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In terms of services consumption, the categories of communication and information services, tourism consulting and leasing services, and cultural, sports and leisure services saw fast growth, the NBS data showed.

In the first half of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods, which include the sales of physical consumer goods plus the income generated from the catering services, reached 24.87 trillion yuan (about 3.66 trillion U.S. dollars), up by 1.3 percent year on year, the data showed.

Retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas rose 1.2 percent while that in rural areas increased 2.5 percent. ■