Shanghai retail sales up 6.5 pct in 2019

Source: Xinhua | 2020-02-02

Shanghai's retail sales of consumer goods grew 6.5 percent year on year to 1.35 trillion yuan (195 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, according to the Shanghai municipal statistics bureau.

The sound consumer spending came after authorities in the country's financial and business center rolled out measures to develop the first-store economy, the nightlife economy, tax-free shopping as well as e-commerce, said Tang Huihao, deputy director of the bureau.

Among all sectors, retail sales of cosmetics jumped 21.8 percent year on year, driving the growth of total retail sales by 1.2 percentage points, according to the bureau.

Retail sales of shoes and hats increased 20.8 percent year on year, fueling the growth of total retail sales by 0.9 percentage points. Meanwhile, retail sales of online stores grew 15.8 percent year on year.

In addition, nearly 1,000 new brands opened their first stores in Shanghai last year, said Tang.