Consumers crowded a supermarket in Shanghai.   Beijing, Feb. 25 - The retail sales of consumer goods in China rose 15 percent year-on-year to 220 billion yuan (28.2 billion U.S. dollars) during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing sources with the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday.

 

Retail sales in the catering industry surged 18 percent over last year's Spring Festival holiday.

 

Ninety-five percent of the restaurants in Beijing received reservations for family reunion dinners during the holiday.

 

Meanwhile, high-end household electric appliances and digital products became hot sellers in major cities.

 

Motorcycles priced between 3,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan sold well in rural areas of central Hubei Province and eastern Jiangsu Province as more and more farmers rode motorcycles to make New Year visits to relatives and friends.

 

Farmers' consumption capability is on the rise partly because China's rural cooperative medical care system, under which the government helps fund farmers' medical expenses, will cover 80 percent of counties this year and partly because students in rural areas will be exempted from paying tuition fees in the nine-year compulsory education, said the ministry.