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Retail poised for boom despite October growth decline

RETAIL sales in China grew at a slower pace during October amid economic uncertainties.

Analysts however remained optimistic due to stronger buying power among Chinese residents whose consumption demands are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Retail sales, a broad measure of people's spending, rose 17.2 percent from a year earlier to 1.65 trillion yuan (US$261 billion) last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.

It weakened from a pace of 17.7 percent in September, but was still higher than 17 percent in August. The overall growth in the first 10 months remained at an annualized 17 percent.

"A slowdown is not expected," said Li Maoyu, an analyst at Changjiang Securities Co. "But on the whole, China keeps a healthy and stable growth momentum in private consumption."

Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC, said "consumer spending is likely to remain resilient, thanks to rapid income growth and the anticipated petering-out of inflation that may boost consumer confidence."

The Consumer Price Index, a main gauge of inflation, eased for the third straight month in October to 5.5 percent, the slowest pace since May. It peaked in July when inflation hit a 37-month high of 6.5 percent. The slowdown made way for more flexible monetary policies to support growth.

China's consumption was in a transitional phase and people were eager to buy more quality products, bureau spokesman Sheng Laiyun said earlier.

Last month, consumers' expenditure on jewelry surged 32.3 percent year-on-year to 16.1 billion yuan, while furniture spending jumped 33.3 percent to 11.8 billion yuan. Other non-daily necessities including cosmetics, gadgets and decoration materials also witnessed substantial gains last month, according to the bureau.

The remarkable growth was based on rising salaries, among which the disposable income of urban residents jumped 13.7 percent to 16,301 yuan in the first three quarters, and that of rural households swelled 20.7 percent to 5,875 yuan.

"Chinese consumers are willing to spend on products of higher quality and of greater innovation," said Xue Jun, an analyst at CITIC Securities Co.

"With possible improvement in China's economy after policies are fine-tuned, retail sales may continue to grow strongly in the coming months," Xue said.



 

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