Chinese Oil, Petroleum Products Sales Rose

China's retail sales grew at the fastest pace in more than a year in April led by increased spending on oil, vehicles and home appliances.

Sales rose 13.6 percent last month year on year to 577.5 billion yuan (US$72.1 billion) after climbing 13.5 percent in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. That was the highest increase since March last year.

Oil and oil products in April generated the biggest growth at 37 percent from a year earlier, led by increasing demand for vehicles.

"Rising demand for vehicles is reflected by facts such as car plate prices, which have been going up for months in Shanghai," said Li Mingliang, a Haitong Securities Co analyst.

Vehicles generated a 26.3-percent increase in sales last month from a year earlier, nearly 10 percent higher than the growth in the middle of last year.