BEIJING — China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption growth, fell 3.9 percent year-on-year in 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Jan 18.

Sales of consumer goods reached 39.2 trillion yuan (about $6.05 trillion) last year.

Retail sales in rural areas fell 3.2 percent, lower than the 4-percent decline in urban areas.

In the fourth quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 4.6 percent year-on-year, 3.7 percentage points higher than that in the third quarter.

Data released on Jan 18 pointed to China's ongoing consumption upgrade, as the retail sales of communication equipment, cosmetics, as well as gold, silver, and jewelry by enterprises above the designated size grew by 26 percent, 21.2 percent, and 17.3 percent, respectively, in the fourth quarter.

Online sales continued to report robust expansion, with a year-on-year increase of 10.9 percent to reach 11.76 trillion yuan in 2020, the NBS data showed.