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BEIJING, Oct 9 (AFP): Chinese spent some 270 billion yuan (33.3 billion dollars) during the week-long National Day holiday, up 14.2 per cent from last year's "Golden Week" festivities, the government said today.
Retail sales of consumer goods in the urban regions of Beijing, Chongqing, Guangdong, Hebei, Jilin and Sichuan were up between 18 per cent and 41 per cent over the same week last year, the Ministry of Commerce said on its website.
Food and drink industries were the biggest beneficiaries of the week-long holiday that officially ended Friday, with sales up from between 21 per cent to 50 per cent depending on the region, it said.
China has three "Golden Week" holidays a year, a practice that began in 1999 in an effort to stimulate consumer spending.
The holidays fall on the October 1 National Day, the traditional Lunar New Year Spring Festival normally in late January or February and the May 1 Labour Day holiday.
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