China July retail sales up 23.3 percent

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- China's July retail sales totaled $125.8 billion, up a robust 23.3 percent from the same period of last year, and higher than June's record 23 percent jump.

The National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday the July numbers, which are nominal, brought retail sales of consumer goods in the first seven months of this year to $869 billion, up 21.7 percent from the same period of last year.

China's July inflation, announced Tuesday, rose 6.3 percent from year-ago levels, but the rate of increase was smaller than June's 7.1 percent and May's 7.7 percent.