China sees surging retail sales during spring festival

China's retail sales for the week-long Spring Festival holiday ending Thursday rose 13.3 percent from the corresponding period last year despite falling luxury goods sales, said the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. Consumer market sales amounted to 610.7 billion yuan (100.8 billion U.S. dollars) during the holiday, said the ministry in a statement. As people celebrated the year of horse in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, horse-themed jewelry sold briskly, with sales up 35 percent, 31.6 percent and 30.2 percent year on year in shopping malls in Hubei, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces respectively, according to the ministry. Tourism and entertainment sectors have also prospered, said the ministry. Box office revenue in the first three days of the holiday exceeded that recorded last Spring Festival. Amid the booming sales in general, sales of luxury goods fell sharply partly as a result of a nation-wide campaign against extravagance and call for frugal lifestyle. The sales volume of expensive alcoholic beverages fell nearly 70 percent in some supermarkets in the city of Fuzhou. Data also showed that luxurious restaurants saw business dwindle remarkably, with business revenues in high-end restaurants in Heilongjiang Province in northeast China declining nearly 20 percent.