BEIJING, Jan. 23 -- Retail sales of home appliances in China's businesses whose operating income reaches a certain scale surged by 39.3 percent year on year in December, backed by the country's trade-in program, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Thursday.

The growth rate went up by 17.1 percentage points from that in November 2024, the MOC said, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Businesses whose operating income reaches a certain scale refer to wholesalers with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.79 million U.S. dollars), retailers with that reaching 5 million yuan, and accommodation and catering businesses with that of at least 2 million yuan.

In December, the retail sales of consumer goods rose 3.7 percent year on year, while that of the whole year climbed 3.5 percent from 2023, contributing 44.5 percent of the country's economic growth, the data showed.

Retail sales of services marked rapid growth to climb 6.2 percent year on year, 3 percentage points faster than retail sales of consumer goods, the data also showed.