China’s retail sales grew 10.1 percent year on year to 2.42 trillion yuan ($ 396 billion) in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on June 11.

In the first five months, retail sales grew 10.4 percent.

Growth in rural areas outpaced that in cities.

Sales in rural areas rose 11.6 percent in May and at the same rate in January-May period, in contrast to the 9.9 percent and 10.2 percent growth seen in urban areas.