In December 2005, China's 1,000 major retail stores reported a 16.33 percent year-on-year growth in sales volume, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.

Compared with November 2005, the growth rate was 20.13 percent, the ministry said.

The sales volume of major domestic-funded retail stores grew 18.03 percent year on year, and that of major overseas-funded retail stores rose 9.04 percent year on year, it said. Compared with the previous month, the growth rate was 21.64 and 13.3 percent respectively.

The retail volume of construction and decoration materials as well as telecommunication equipment grew rapidly, with a year-on-year rate of 22.31 and 22.08 percent respectively, it said.

Source: Xinhua