Shoppers, Diners, Drivers Buy Out City Stores

2004/03/15

A citywide shopping blitz on New Years Day plus the traditional Spring Festival binge ripped open the record books for January sales, according to Xinhuanet.

A whopping 18.77 billion yuan (US$2.26 billion) in consumer commodity retail sales provided a 15-percent increase on sales for January last year.

Accelerating car sales led the charge. A total 39,500 automobiles 29,700 new and 9,800 secondhand cars were sold in January, a jump of 81.7 percent.

Other highlights from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce retail sales included:

Garments shot up 25.9 percent, hitting 2.69 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion);

Food rose 21.2 percent, topping 5.48 billion yuan (US$662 million);
Catering up 11.7 percent to 1.2 billion yuan (US$145 million);
Household necessities up 9.4 percent to 9.93 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion).



	Article featured in Business Beijing, March 2004 Publication sponsored by Information Office of the Beijing Municipal Government, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Development & Reform Commission of Beijing Municipality, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (Beijing Sub-Council)