Retail sales in April grew 9.7 percent on a year-on-year basis to reach 282 billion yuan (US$34 billion), the bureau said in a monthly report.

The growth rate was lower than that of the first three months, which stood at an average of 10.3 percent.

Still, any growth higher than 8 percent in consumption is traditionally regarded as a respectable performance.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in April advanced a marginal 0.2 percent, indicating that domestic demand was still relatively weak.

Any significant recovery of domestic demand would be reflected by immediate price changes.

After lingering below zero for more than two years, China's price indices went back to positive territory last year, igniting hope that domestic demand was on the rise.

But the CPI has fluctuated around 0.5 percent so far this year. In fact, April's figure was lower than that of the first quarter, which was an average of 0.7 percent.

Of special concern to economists is the zero percent CPI growth for rural areas in April.

Dragged down by slow growth in farmers' incomes, China's consumption growth in rural areas has been weaker than urban areas over the past three years. That was the underlying reason for stagnant prices in the countryside.

The price index also reported the 0.2 percent growth of consumer prices, which was mainly a result of price increases by monopolized industries such as public transportation, air transportation and telecommunications.

In April, intra-city telephone call fee rose an average 4.9 percent, bus fares 0.3 percent and air tickets 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, consumer products produced by the manufacturing industries suffered price cuts. The prices of home appliances, for example, decreased 0.3 percent. Prices of clothing stayed unchanged.

The bureau said China's booming tourism industry helped maintain consumption growth in last month.

An increasing number of Chinese people were on the go in late April, one of the peak seasons for travelling.

The bureau said civil servants' salary increases also had a positive impact on the consumer market.

The Chinese government has increased salaries for its employees, effective in January, in a bid to stimulate consumption. Other government-sponsored institutions and state enterprises also followed suit.

(China Daily 05/17/2001)