BEIJING, Oct. 24 -- China's merchandise sales grew steadily in September, with retail sales rising 4.6 percent year on year, 0.9 percentage points higher than the increase seen in August, a Ministry of Commerce official said on Tuesday.

Eco-friendly products were popular among consumers. Data shows that sales of new energy vehicles, for example, jumped 27.7 percent last month, accounting for 31.6 percent of all new car sales in the country.

Due to booming demand for travel, China has seen rapid growth in the consumption of services such as catering, accommodation, tourism and transportation this year, the official said. In the first three quarters, services retail sales surged 18.9 percent year on year.

Data also shows that China's online retail sales maintained their brisk expansion from January to September, growing 11.6 percent year on year.

Retail sales of consumer goods rose 5.5 percent year on year in September. In the first three quarters, total retail sales of consumer goods grew 6.8 percent year on year. Final consumption contributed 94.8 percent to the economic growth recorded in the third quarter, data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows.