BEIJING, Aug. 15 -- China's retail sales of consumer goods went up 2.7 percent year on year to nearly 3.78 trillion yuan (about 528.82 billion U.S. dollars) in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The growth rate was 0.7 percentage points higher than that posted in June.

Last month, retail sales in urban areas came in at about 3.27 trillion yuan, up 2.4 percent year on year, with the corresponding figure for rural areas reaching 506.6 billion yuan, up 4.6 percent year on year, the NBS said.

The country's total catering revenue reached 440.3 billion yuan in July, increasing 3 percent year on year.

During the first seven months, retail sales rose 3.5 percent year on year to over 27.37 trillion yuan.

Boosted by sales promotions and new e-commerce models, China's online retail sales went up 9.5 percent year on year during the first seven months, sustaining a relatively fast growth.

Online sales of physical goods increased 8.7 percent from a year ago, accounting for 25.6 percent of total retail sales during the period.

Services consumption stood out as a bright spot, with retail sales of services expanding 7.2 percent from a year ago in the first seven months, according to the NBS.

Thursday's data also showed that China's industrial output expanded 5.9 percent year on year in the first seven months, and fixed-asset investment increased 3.6 percent from a year ago.