China retail earnings up 8.5 percent during new year holiday, Commerce Ministry says

• During the Lunar New Year holiday, China's retailer and catering enterprises earned over 1 trillion yuan ($148.3 billion), the country's commerce ministry said late on Sunday.
• This defied an economic slump to rise 8.5 percent from last year. 
• The increase was down to the rapid growth in sales of new-year gifts, traditional foods, electronic products and local speciality products over a six-day holiday period ending on Saturday.

Chinese consumers queue up outside a time-honored grocery store to buy their Chinese New Year essentials in Shanghai.

VCG | Getty Images

China's retailer and catering enterprises earned over 1 trillion yuan ($148.3 billion) during the Lunar New Year holiday, defying an economic slump to rise 8.5 percent from last year, the country's commerce ministry said late on Sunday.

The increase was down to the rapid growth in sales of new-year gifts, traditional foods, electronic products and local speciality products over a six-day holiday period ending on Saturday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a notice on its website.

Domestic tourism during the new year break generated total revenues of 513.9 billion yuan, up 8.2 percent on the year, with the number of trips rising 7.6 percent to 415 million, the official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday, citing official data.