3. Total retail sales of consumer goods maintained steady and fast growth.

In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 1,245.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 18.7 percent, which was 3.5 percentage points higher than that in May 2009, or 0.2 percentage point higher than that in the previous month of this year. In the first five months of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods were 6,033.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 18.2 percent, or up by 3.2 percentage points over that in the same period of last year. It was 0.1 percentage point higher over that in the first four months of this year.

Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 1,081.8 billion yuan in May, up by 19.1 percent, and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 163.7 billion yuan, up by 15.8 percent.

Grouped by consumption patterns, the total income of catering services was 143.4 billion yuan in May, up by 16.7 percent year-on-year, and that of retail goods was 1,102.1 billion yuan, up 18.9 percent. Of this total, the total retail sales of enterprises (units) above designated size stood at 466.9 billion yuan, up 31.1 percent.

4. Consumer prices went up.

In May, the consumer price index went up by 3.1 percent year-on-year. The price grew by 2.9 percent in cities and 3.3 percent in rural areas. The food price went up by 6.1 percent while the non-food price increased by 1.6 percent. The prices of consumer goods went up by 3.4 percent and the prices of services grew up by 1.8 percent. In the first five months, the year-on-year change of consumer price was up by 2.5 percent. Grouped by commodity categories, in May, of the eight categories of commodities, six of them experienced prices rise and two witnessed prices decline. Of which, prices for food went up by 6.1 percent; prices for tobacco, liquor and articles rose by 1.7 percent; price for clothing went down by 1.2 percent; prices for household facilities, articles and maintenance services went down by 0.3 percent; health care and personal articles rose by 3.2 percent; transportation and communication increased by 0.1 percent; recreation, education, culture articles and services grew by 0.6 percent; and housing went up by 5.0 percent.

In May this year, the month-on-month change of consumer price was down by 0.1 percent. Of which, price in cities went down by 0.1 percent and that in rural areas maintained the same level with last month. The food price declined by 0.5 percent while the non-food price grew by 0.1 percent. The price of consumer goods dropped by 0.1 percent, and the price of services went up by 0.1 percent. Grouped by commodity categories, in May, prices for food dropped by 0.5 percent month-on-month, of which, that for fresh vegetables went down by 9.8 percent in particular; prices for tobacco, liquor and articles rose by 0.1 percent; price for clothing went up by 0.2 percent; prices for household facilities, articles and maintenance services showed no change of growth; health care and personal articles grew by 0.5 percent; transportation and communication went down by 0.1 percent; recreation, education, culture articles and services maintained the same level of growth; and housing went up by 0.2 percent.

5. The producer prices for manufactured goods continued to rise.

In May, the producer prices for manufactured goods went up by 7.1 percent year-on-year. In the first five months of this year, it rose by 5.9 percent year-on-year. The producer prices for means of production went up by 8.8 percent year-on-year in May, of which that for mining and quarrying industry grew by 31.1 percent, raw materials industry went up by 13.8 percent and processing industry increased by 3.6 percent. The producer prices for means of livelihood increased by 1.8 percent, of which, the food prices grew by 3.2 percent, clothing went up by 1.9 percent, articles for daily use grew by 1.7 percent and durable consumer goods dropped by 0.3 percent. In May, the month-on-month change of the producer prices for manufactured good went up by 0.6 percent.

In May, the purchasing prices for raw materials, fuel and power went up by 12.2 percent year-on-year. In the first five months, it grew by 10.8 percent year-on-year. In May, the year-on-year change of prices for nonferrous metals and wire went up by 26.0 percent, fuel and power rose by 23.4 percent, 7.8 percent growth for raw chemical materials and 10.9 percent increase for ferrous metals.