China´s retail sales of consumer goods up 22% in April

Retail sales powered ahead for the month of April. The National Bureau of Statistics says retail sales of consumer goods rose 22 percent year-on-year a 0.5 percentage point up from figures in March, and well above market expectations of a 21.2 percent increase.

This is the fastest rise since official monthly records began in 1999. Economists say the April growth rate is 6-and-a-half percentage points higher than that reported for the same month in 2007. But they're also stressing that this rate is not excessive, given that growth rates in inflation for the same month stand at 5-and-a-half percentage points higher than what was recorded last year.

This means that in terms of real growth, the year-on-year increase in retail sales is just one percentage point higher than it was from a year ago. And for analysts, this suggests an overall stability in prices.

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