Shanghai city's retail sales climb 13% in August

Shanghai's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 137.43 billion yuan ($18.9 billion) in August, up 13 percent year-on-year, the fastest growth since January 2024, according to the Shanghai Bureau of Statistics.

Automobiles, the largest category in the retail sales statistics, posted sales of 20.83 billion yuan in August, a surge of 32.3 percent from a year earlier, making them the main driver of growth.

By product category, sales of cultural and office supplies jumped 77.2 percent to 6.30 billion yuan, while household appliances and audiovisual equipment rose 57.8 percent to 4.95 billion yuan.

Steady growth was also recorded in gold and jewelry, apparel, and cosmetics.

From January to August, total retail sales of consumer goods grew 3.7 percent to 1.09 trillion yuan. Retail goods rose 4.7 percent to 962.45 billion yuan, while catering services fell 2.7 percent to 130.16 billion yuan.

Sources: thepaper.cn, Jiefang Daily,shanghai.gov