TIANJIN, April 7 -- China's northern port city of Tianjin saw its retail sales soar during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that concluded on Saturday, according to the municipal commerce commission.

Data showed that 431 trading enterprises under the commission's monitoring in Tianjin raked in 980 million yuan (about 138 million U.S. dollars) and received 7.41 million visits during the holiday, up by 16.4 percent and 33.6 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.

The catering industry saw robust growth. A total of 220 catering companies monitored by the commission posted revenues totaling 14.37 million yuan, up by 14.8 percent year on year.

The city's 82 department stores, shopping centers and outlets saw total sales increase by 19.8 percent year on year to reach 470 million yuan in the holiday. They received more than 6.23 million visits in the period, up by 43.5 percent year on year.