BEIJING — China's retail sales of consumer goods went up 3.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on April 18.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods totaled around 10.87 trillion yuan (about $1.7 trillion) in the period, data from the NBS showed.

In March, retail sales decreased by 3.5 percent year-on-year.

Retail sales in urban areas reached 9.43 trillion yuan in Q1, up 3.2 percent year-on-year, while those in rural areas increased 3.5 percent year-on-year.

In Q1, retail sales of goods rose 3.6 percent from a year ago to 9.8 trillion yuan, while catering revenue hit 1.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.5 percent year-on-year.

Online consumption remained a bright spot, with online retail sales rising 6.6 percent year-on-year to reach about 3.01 trillion yuan in this period.

"Consumption is a steady driver of economic growth and bears on ensuring and improving people's livelihoods," according to a State Council executive meeting held last week.

The meeting decided on measures to counter the impact of COVID-19 and boost the recovery and growth of consumption.

April 18's data showed that China's gross domestic product reached 27.02 trillion yuan in Q1, up 4.8 percent year-on-year.