BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 1.9 percent year on year in the first four months of 2026, official data showed Monday.

This aerial photo taken on July 4, 2023 shows the construction site of a residential housing project in the start-up area in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. (Photo: Xinhua)

During the January-April period, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached about 16.49 trillion yuan (about 2.41 trillion U.S. dollars). Excluding automobiles, retail sales grew by 3.1 percent to 15.2 trillion yuan, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Urban retail sales totaled 14.29 trillion yuan in the January-April period, up 1.8 percent year on year, while rural retail sales posted faster growth of 2.8 percent, reaching 2.2 trillion yuan.

Retail sales of services grew by 5.6 percent year on year in the first four months, accelerating by 0.1 percentage points from the first quarter. Fast growth was recorded in telecommunications and information services, tourism and rental services, cultural and recreational services, as well as transportation and travel services, the data showed.

From January to April, total online retail sales of goods and services reached 6.53 trillion yuan, up 6.6 percent year on year. Online goods sales rose 5.7 percent to nearly 4.12 trillion yuan, accounting for 25 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods. Online services sales grew at an 8.3 percent rate, reaching 2.41 trillion yuan, according to the data.