China's retail sales, the country's key gauge of consumer spending, surged 16 percent during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday despite the worst winter storms in half a century.

People buy books at a bookstore in Yinchuan, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, February 11, 2008. China's retail sales, the country's key gauge of consumer spending, surged 16 percent during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday despite the worst winter storms in half a century. [Xinhua]

Consumers spent 255 billion yuan (US$34.9 billion), up from 219.8 billion yuan in the same period last year, the Ministry of Commerce reported on its website.

The growth rate compares with 16.8 percent for all of 2007 and 15 percent during last year's holiday.