Consumption contributes more to China's economic growth

BEIJING - China's domestic consumption has become a stronger force driving economic growth thanks to government efforts to restructure the economy.

Consumption contributed 66.4 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015, up 15.4 percentage points from 2014, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

The rising ratio suggested concrete progress in creating a more consumption and service driven consumption in order to sustain growth.

Consumption has been a bright spot for the Chinese economy, which is weighed down by slowing investment and falling exports.

To boost consumption, China is pushing forward supply-side reforms to provide better merchandise, encourage online shopping, stimulate the service sector and strengthen market supervision.

The GDP grew 6.9 percent year on year in 2015, the slowest annual expansion in a quarter of a century, but is still in line with the official target.

Retail sales of consumer goods, a key indicator of consumption, performed well in December thanks to pro-consumption policies from the government. Total retail sales rose 11.1 percent year on year to 2.86 trillion yuan ($436 billion), NBS data showed. The growth rate was encouraging, though slightly down from 11.2 percent in November.

In 2015, retail sales grew 10.7 percent from a year earlier, slower than the 12 percent increase registered in 2014. Total sales amounted to 30.09 trillion yuan last year.

Online sales remained strong in 2015, jumping 33.3 percent year on year to 3.88 trillion yuan.

Retail sales in rural areas grew more rapidly than in urban areas. Last year, sales in rural regions rose 11.8 percent from a year ago, while sales in urban areas climbed 10.5 percent.