China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that in 2012, the country's retail sales climbed by 14.3 percent to USD3.3 trillion.
The agency said that after being adjusted for inflation, retail sales last year increased by 12.1 percent.
The NBS said that in December alone, Chinese retail sales jumped by 15.2 percent from a year earlier, compared with a growth of 14.9 percent in November.
On a monthly basis, retail sales in December rose by 1.53 percent, and after being adjusted for inflation, they grew by 13.5 percent.
For the full year, urban consumption grew 14.3 percent to USD2.85 trillion, while spending made by rural residents increased 14.5 percent to USD446 billion.
