China's total retail sales of goods and services, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, increased by 2.6 percent year on year in the first seven months of 2026, official data showed on Monday.

Retail sales of services increased by 5 percent in the January-July period from a year earlier, while that of goods rose by 1.1 percent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS chief statistician Yuan Yan said that retail sales of services have consistently grown faster than retail sales of goods over the past three years, with a clear shift in the consumption market from a focus solely on goods to placing greater emphasis on both goods and services.

"Consumer demand has become increasingly personalized, diversified and quality-oriented, while the consumption market has grown more diverse, further demonstrating the advantages of China's super-sized market," Yuan said.

The culture, sports and tourism markets remained vibrant. In the first seven months, retail sales of tourism consulting and rental services, as well as cultural, sports and leisure services, both grew by more than 10 percent.

The rural market grew faster than the urban market. In the first seven months, retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas rose 2.4 percent year on year, 1.3 percentage points faster than in urban areas.

As the country steadily advanced comprehensive rural revitalization and continued to improve rural commerce and logistics systems, the consumption potential of rural markets continued to be unleashed, Yuan said.

From January to July, online retail sales of goods and services reached 11.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.8 percent year on year.

Yuan attributed the growth to the accelerated application of next-generation artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies, continued improvements in the regulation of online transactions, and more efficient matching of market supply and demand, which have helped further unleash the vitality of online consumption.

In the first seven months, retail sales of green and smart products performed well. Retail sales of wearable smart devices, including smart glasses, more than doubled year on year during this period, while retail sales of communications equipment rose 15.1 percent, 0.7 percentage points faster than in the first half of the year.

Looking ahead, Yuan said efforts should focus on better coordinating consumption-promotion policies, expanding the supply of quality goods and services to meet the needs of different groups, and unlocking the potential of service consumption.

"China's consumer prices are expected to maintain a moderate upward trend in the second half of the year," said NBS spokesperson Wang Guanhua on Monday.

Wang said policies to expand domestic demand and promote consumption, the continued expansion of services consumption, and new demand driven by product innovation will continue to support a reasonable recovery in the consumer price index.