Shanghai retailers record a bumper month

Shanghai retail sales jumped 20.2 percent in October year on year - the fastest growth in a single month since 2000 - to 40.3 billion yuan (US$5.9 billion).

The Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday the October sales were largely driven by people spending more during the seven-day National Day break. The shortened holiday in May, the bureau said, dampened people's enthusiasm to open the purse strings and impacted on the tourism and entertainment industries.

In the first 10 months, Shanghai's retail sales expanded 17.7 percent to 375.2 billion yuan year on year.

"The growth of people's spending in the city has been steady and the amount of monthly sales have all surpassed 35 billion yuan so far this year," said Wu Yanrong, an analyst with the statistics bureau.

"In October, people spent more money on traveling, dining and other entertainment during the holiday and it fueled growth," Wu said.

During the week-long holiday, more than 4,000 outlets under the city's 386 biggest retail chains reported that sales increased 20.12 percent from a year ago to 4.9 billion yuan.

The sales in restaurants added 22.3 percent to 6.73 billion yuan last month and contributed 18.1 percent to the city's overall growth of retail sales. People's spending on food and daily necessities grew 20.5 percent and 20.2 percent to 15.9 billion yuan and 18.8 billion yuan, respectively.

However, some analysts warned that the global economic downturn may have a negative effect on emerging markets, making people tighten their budgets.

Some city department stores have reported mild falls in their business last weekend despite big discounts and promotions.

"Facing the uncertainties in the economy, I have changed a bit in my shopping habits and become more prudent when buying big-ticket items," said 30-year-old Eric Ding, who works in a foreign-funded company that is laying off employees.

But Shanghai's overall economy still stuck to a fast growth pattern and jumped 10.1 percent in the first three quarters to September.

To sustain domestic growth, China has cut interest rates, raised banks' reserve-requirement ratios, expanded export tax rebates, and increased subsidies for small companies in the past three months.

The nation also announced a massive 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package on November 9 earmarked for the next two years, with the goal of boosting the domestic spending.