China’s economic chill appears to be thawing.

Total retail sales of consumer goods rose 14.9 per cent to 1.8 trillion yuan (US$288 billion) in November, up from 14.5 per cent in October.

Sales in urban areas were up 15 per cent to 1.6 trillion yuan and in rural areas they rose 14.6 per cent to 244.6 billion yuan.

Catering services gained 211.5 billion yuan, up by 14.2 per cent while the retail sales of goods gained 1.6 trillion yuan, up by 14.6 per cent.

Furniture sales registered the highest growth with a 23.9 per cent rise, followed by cosmetics up 21.6 per cent and garments and footwear up 20.6 per cent.

Retail sales for the 11 months to November rose 14.2 per cent to 18.6 trillion yuan.

GB