In this Jan. and Feb. of this year, the retail sale of social consumer goods totaled 1031.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 13.6%. Specifically speaking, that in this Jan. rose 11.5%, that in this Feb. climbed 15.8%. The change of growth rates between months was mainly caused by the different dates of the spring festivals of this year and last year.

    Analyzed by region, the retail sale of urban consumer goods was 688.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 14.4%; that of the area at the county level and below was 342.7 billion yuan, up 11.9%.

    Analyzed by industry, the retail sale of the wholesale and retail trade was 861.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 13.5%; that of catering trade was 141.4 billion yuan, up 17.1%; that of other industries was 28 billion yuan, up 0.3%.

    Analyzed by category, the retail sale of the wholesale and retail trade in foods, clothes and articles above designated size showed the year-on-year rises of 17.9%, 20.5% and 15.7%. That of home electric appliance and audiovisual equipment rose 17.8%; that of sports and recreational articles went up 23.1%; that of cultural and office articles was up 21.4%, that of cosmetics went up 19.1%, that of gold, silver and pearl jewelry rose 19.3%, that of communications equipment went up 19.3%, that of building and upholstering equipment rose 28.7%, that of autos rose 11.3%, that of petroleum and its products climbed 36.1%, that of clothes, hats, knitted and woven products went up 20.5%, that of foods, beverage, tobacco and liquor ascended 17.9%.

individual articles went down 0.7%, of which, that of western medicines dropped 3.4%, those of the traditional Chinese medicine materials and prepared Chinese medicines dropped 3.5%, that of medical treatment and health care rose 3.9%.

    The price of transport and communications dropped 0.6%, of which, that of transport vehicles declined 3.6%, that of vehicle-used fuels and parts went up 9.6%, that of using vehicles and related repairs rose 2.2%, that for transport between cities went up 8.7%, that of communications devices dropped 16.7%.

    The price of recreational, education and cultural articles and services ascended 3.3%, of which, that of tuition, miscellaneous schooling fees and sending children to kindergartens climbed 6.4%, that for recreation and education was up 3.2%, that of travel & hanging out went up 6.9%, that for cultural & recreational consumer goods declined 6.7%.

    The price of housing went up 5.6%, of which, that of water, electricity and fuels rose 10.5%, that of building and upholstering materials rose 2.0%, that of renting house went up 2.2%.

    Influenced by the Spring Festival(in the January of last year, and in the February of this year), the consumer prices in this January and February is not completely comparable. Analyzed the accumulated data of the Jan. and Feb., the consumer price rose 2.9% over the same period of last year.