China's market sales accelerated and service retails grew fast in the first quarter of 2026, with retail sales of services going up by 5.5 percent year on year in the period, official data showed Thursday.

Mao Shengyong, deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said at a press conference in Beijing that China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 2.4 percent year on year in the first three months.

"In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 12,769.5 billion yuan (about 1,873 billion U.S. dollars), up by 2.4 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage points faster than that of the fourth quarter of 2025. The retail sales of goods were 11,307.2 billion yuan, up by 2.2 percent; the income of catering was 1,462.3 billion yuan, up by 4.2 percent," Mao said.

"In the first quarter, the retail sales of services went up by 5.5 percent year on year, maintaining the same level as that of the previous year. Specifically, that of communication information services, tourism consultation and rental services, as well as cultural, sports and leisure services grew fast. In the first quarter, the online retail sales of goods and services reached 4,977.4 billion yuan, up by 8.0 percent year on year," he continued.