[Xinhua]?

Retail sales at the World Expo site have increased monthly, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said Tuesday.

Sales were 413 million yuan (60.7 million U.S. dollars) in May, 527 million yuan in June and 542 million in July.

An increase in attendance and more products as the Expo progressed were cited as the main reasons for the sales rise.

The bureau said each person spent an average of 40 yuan in the public areas at the site. About 400,000 people visit the Expo each day on average.

The daily sales record of 23.1 million yuan was set on May 29, the bureau said.

With the price of food becoming cheaper, more visitors are choosing to have lunch or dinner at Expo restaurants, instead of bringing their own food.

Separately, Sha Hailin, chairman of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, said yesterday its key task in the second half of this year is to tap the Expo better to attract foreign investment. As part of the effort, the commission launched an Expo supplement of the annual White Paper Environment for Foreign Investment in Shanghai.

The commission will also publish supplements on the Expo's operations, the building of Shanghai into a global trading center and the performance of foreign-invested companies.

In the first seven months, Shanghai had foreign investment of US$6.28 billion, up an annual 3.6 percent, Sha said.