China's accommodation and catering retail sales dropped 6.6 percent to 137.66 billion yuan (US$19.7 billion) in November from a month earlier as the global financial crisis took a toll on the economy.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday, the November figure was still up 25.1 percent from a year earlier. From January to November, retail sales in the two industries were up 24.9 percent year on year to 1.39 trillion yuan and accounted for 14.2 percent of the total retail of consumer goods.

During the first 11 months, foreign investors set up 591 new accommodation and catering companies in the country, down 31.4 percent compared with the same period last year, and the actually utilized foreign funds slipped 11.9 percent to US$840 million.

(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2008)