SHANGHAI -- Patriotic purchases boosted spending during a weeklong national holiday that ended Monday, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but the growth rate in retail slowed from a year earlier.
Sales at retail outlets expanded 8.5% to 1.52 trillion yuan ($213 billion), smaller than the 9.5% growth in 2018, according to data released Monday by the Ministry of Commerce. This was the ninth consecutive year in which the growth rate shrunk since the ministry began releasing data in the current format in 2010.
