China's retail sales grew 17.2 percent to 1.44 trillion yuan (US$222 billion) in July from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Tuesday.

The July retail sales expanded by 1.26 percent from June. From January to July, the country's retail sales rose 16.8 percent year-on-year to 10.02 trillion yuan, according to the NBS.

Sales of jewels soared 45 percent to 13.1 billion yuan, the biggest increase among all consumer goods. Sales of oil and its manufacture also rose by more than 40 percent to 123.7 billion yuan.

Urban retail sales increased 17.3 percent year-on-year to 1.25 trillion yuan in July, while rural retail sales climbed 16.4 percent to 191.9 billion yuan.

The catering sector generated sales of 162.7 billion yuan in July, a rise of 17.1 percent from a year earlier, while commodities retail sales increased 17.2 percent to 1.28 trillion yuan, the NBS said.