China's consumer market continued to grow steadily in October and unleash its vitality, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday.

The country's retail sales of consumer goods totaled over 41.2 trillion yuan (about 5.8 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months of 2025, up by 4.3 percent year on year, which is 0.8 percentage points higher than the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

In October, the retail sales of goods increased by 2.8 percent, with related sales of consumer goods under China's policy-backed trade-in program maintaining rapid growth. Notably, retail sales of communication equipment, office supplies and furniture by businesses above designated sizes increased by 23.2 percent, 13.5 percent, and 9.6 percent, respectively, according to data released by the MOC.

Businesses above the designated size are wholesale enterprises, retail enterprises, and lodging and catering enterprises with annual revenue from principal business reaching or above 20 million yuan, 5 million yuan and 2 million yuan, respectively.

Furthermore, the consumer demand for upgraded goods grew robust during the period, with the retail sales of gold, silver and jewelries, sports and entertainment products, and cosmetics increasing by 37.6 percent, 10.1 percent, and 9.6 percent, respectively, the MOC said.

Service consumption also flourished, with retail sales in the sector rising 5.3 percent year on year in the 10-month period.

MOC data also showed in October driven by the demand for travel during the holiday period, the retail sales of travel consulting and rental services, transportation services, and cultural, sports and leisure services all maintained a rapid growth of over 10 percent. Catering revenue increased by 3.8 percent, with the growth rate accelerating by 2.9 percentage points compared with September. China received 751,000 foreigners during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, representing a growth of 19.8 percent.

At the same time, new types of consumption registered high growth rates. In October, the key platforms closely monitored by MOC's commerce big data reported that the sales of smart health devices increased by over 20 percent, while sales of smart wearable devices grew by about four percent. Sales of some products with the highest energy efficiency level rose by over 10 percent, and sales of organic food increased by more than eight percent, according to the data.

In addition, the country's rural consumption is growing faster than that in urban areas.