BEIJING, March 15 -- China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, increased 3.5 percent year on year in the first two months of 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Wednesday.

The growth reversed declines in the previous three months.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods totaled 7.7 trillion yuan (about 1.12 trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-February period, according to the NBS.

In February, the country's retail sales dipped 0.02 percent on a monthly basis.