Beijing's retail sales reached 290.28 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) in the past year, indicating a rise of 10.5 percent over 2004, or 10.8 percent allowing for price factors, according to the latest report issued by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

In 2005, the wholesale and retail industry reported an added value of 64.04 billion yuan (7.45 billion U.S. dollars), 9.3 percent higher than 2004, and the hotel and catering industry reported an added value of 17.69 billion yuan (2.19 billion U.S. dollars), up 8.2 percent year-on-year, according to the report on Beijing's economic and social development in the 2001-2005 period.

A total of 570,000 motor vehicles were sold in Beijing in 2005, an increase of 27.5 percent over 2004, which included 372,000 new ones, up 22.3 percent year-on-year, statistics show.

In the 2001-2005 period, Beijing's retail sales amounted to 1.17 trillion yuan (144.7 billion U.S. dollars), with a yearly growth of 11.8 percent on average.

In the past five years, the wholesale and retail industry reported an average yearly growth of 10.8 percent in added value, while the hotel and catering industry reported a growth rate of 11.4 percent, statistics show.

Source: Xinhua