Consumer spending remained stable but showed invigorating signs in China last year, the country's top statistician Li Deshui said in Beijing Tuesday.

The total retail sales volume grew 13.3 percent year on year to 5.4 trillion yuan (652.17 billion US dollars) in 2004, Li, commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, told a press conference at the Information Office of the State Council.

It climbed 10.2 percent after deducting price hikes, 1 percentage point higher on a yearly basis, he added.

Urban and rural retail sales rose 14.7 and 10.7 percent, respectively.

Source: Xinhua