China Retail Sales Lower Than Expected in July

     BEIJING (MNI) - China retail sales came in below expectations in July

although growth remained in double digits for the fifth straight month,

according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.

     Retail sales grew 10.4% in July to CNY2.96 trillion, the lowest since the

January-February period. It was lower than the 10.7% median forecast in an MNI

survey, and was 0.6 percentage point lower than 11% in June.

     For the January to July period, retail sales reached CNY20.2 trillion, a

10.4% year-on-year increase. The growth rate was flat with the January-June

period.

     Growth in July was held back by a slowdown in catering revenue -- an 11.1%

increase for the month, compared with 11.9% in June. All categories of

commodities retail sales witnessed sales growth slowdowns except beverages,

which grew 12.5%, compared with 10.6% growth in June.

     The largest growth drop -- 10.6 percentage points -- was in electronic

device sales. Sales growth for stationery and office supplies, makeup,

necessities, and jewelry were down 5.6 percentage points, 4.3 percentage points,

4.1 percentage points, and 3.7 percentage points, respectively.

     The largest surge in growth came in household appliances and construction

and decoration materials, both at 13.1%.  

     Online sales grew 33.7% in the January to July period to CNY3.6617

trillion, slightly higher than the 33.4% growth in the January-June period.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: iris.ouyang@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: vince.morkri@marketnews.com

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