BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said Saturday that the structure of China's consumption has kept improving as consumption contributes more to economic growth.

Photo: People's Daily

Consumption of services grew faster than that of goods, with its share rising to 49.5 percent last year, a sign of improved consumption structure, Zhong told a news conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.

The quality of consumption has also become better with personalized, diversified and customized consumption burgeoning, he said.

Despite a narrowed growth rate in China's total retail sales last year, the increment amounted to 3.2 trillion yuan ($476 billion), equivalent to the annual retail sales in 1998, Zhong said.

"China is already a major consumption power," he said.

Last year, consumption contributed 76.2 percent to economic growth, remaining the primary driver of economic growth, he said.

China will promote the development of a robust domestic market this year, with measures focusing on unleashing the potential of both urban and rural consumption and promoting spending on services such as elderly care, the minister said.