A file photo of people shopping in a shopping complex in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/WeChat account: xiamen_swj]

From January to August, Xiamen in Fujian province generated 179.99 billion yuan ($27.84 billion) in retail sales of consumer goods, up 21.7 percent year-on-year, according to the municipal bureau of statistics. 

Consumptions of female products grew rapidly, with the sales of textile products up 58.6 percent year-on-year and cosmetics sales growing by 2.2 times.

The consumption of beverages and tobacco also grew quickly. Beverages grew by 76.2 percent while tobacco and alcohol grew by 56.2 percent year-on-year. 

Retail sales of automobiles in Xiamen was the highest in the province, rising 28.3 percent from the previous year. Specifically, the sales of new-energy vehicles rose 1.3 times year-on-year.

The consumption of equipment dropped, with sales in the hardware and electrical materials sector and the communication equipment sector declining by 5.8 percent and 53.5 percent year-on-year respectively. 

The sales of daily essential products such as oil and food maintained a steady growth in the past eight months of this year. 

In terms of industries, the wholesale industry above designated size surged 59.9 percent year-on-year to hit 1.65 trillion yuan in the Jan-Aug period. The retail industry above designated size achieved 102.31 billion yuan, up 32.8 percent in the same period. 

The growth rate of the catering industry has slowed. The accommodation industry above designated size and the catering industry above designated size made a turnover of 4.30 billion yuan and 6.07 billion yuan, up 55 percent year-on-year and 42.9 percent respectively.