BEIJING, June 16 -- China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 6.4 percent year on year in May, official data showed Monday.

Total retail sales of consumer goods topped 4.13 trillion yuan (about 575.3 billion U.S. dollars) last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

From January to May, the retail sales of consumer goods rose 5 percent year on year, accelerating from the 4.7-percent growth in the first four months, according to the NBS.