BEIJING, Aug. 20 -- China's services consumption experienced strong recovery momentum in July, with the box office as a bright spot, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

In July, the box office earnings reached a new historical high for the month, amounting to 8.72 billion yuan (about 1.21 billion U.S. dollars). The reading was about 2.5 times registered in the same month last year, according to the ministry.

Propelled by improving consumer sentiment and pro-growth policies, demand for traveling and catering was further unleashed. In July, the income of the catering industry reached 427.7 billion yuan, surging 15.8 percent year on year.

Last month, the number of passenger trips operated by railway and air soared 80.9 percent and 83.7 percent, respectively, the ministry said.

The consumer market continued to grow rapidly, as retail sales of consumer goods increased by 2.5 percent year on year last month to nearly 3.7 trillion yuan, data revealed.