(Yicai Global) Oct. 23 -- Chinese retail sales of consumer goods totaled CNY32 trillion (USD4.6 trillion) over the first nine months, while consumption made up more than three quarters of economic growth.

Revenue from consumer goods gained 9.3 percent from the same period a year earlier, the commerce ministry's marketing head said yesterday, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Consumption expenditure's contribution to economic growth was up 14 percentage points at 78 percent, he added.

Online sales of physical goods jumped 27.7 percent from the year-ago period, making up 17.5 percent of all retail sales of consumer goods. Sales at convenience stores and supermarkets monitored by the Ministry of Commerce increased by 8 percent and 4.6 percent.

Rural consumption growth remained faster than that of urban areas. Sales in rural areas tallied nearly CNY4 trillion over the first three quarters, up 10.4 percent, or 1.2 points higher than national growth, to make up 14.4 percent of all retail sales nationwide.

Consumer prices have also risen by 2.1 percent. The price of edible agricultural products in 36 large and medium-sized cities monitored by the commerce ministry increased by 1.7 percent, with a 4.3 percent monthly gain in September.

The growth in certain categories of retail sales are below:

Sales of double-door refrigerators grew 9.8 points faster than all refrigerators, sales of drum-type washing machines rose 6.3 points faster than all washing machines and sales of ultra-high-definition televisions gained 2.9 points more than all TVs.

Services made up 52.6 percent of total consumption, up 0.2 point from last year, Catering revenue was almost CNY3 trillion (USD429 billion), up 9.8 percent, box office takings rose by 14.9 percent to USD49 billion and tourism consumption remained strong. Nearly 98 million domestic travelers took a vacation during the long weekend for the Mid-Autumn Festival, resulting in tourism income of CNY43.5 billion (USD6.3 billion).