On Aug. 17 NBS spokesman and chief economist Fu Linghui told a State Council
press briefing that faster build-out of county-level commercial systems and
extension of logistics and information networks into rural areas are boosting
consumption in lower-tier markets. Jan–Jul rural consumer goods retail sales
accounted for 13.4% of total retail sales of consumer goods, up 0.2 percentage
point year‑on‑year.
