BEIJING -- China's retail sales rose 13.7 percent to 7.641 trillion yuan (US$979.62 billion) in 2006, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) told a press conference on Thursday.

The growth rate was 0.8 percentage points higher than the previous year.

Sales hit 749.9 billion yuan in December last year, up 14.6 percent year-on-year.

Retail sales rose 14.3 percent in urban areas and 12.6 percent in rural areas last year.

Wholesale and retail sectors rose 13.7 percent, while catering and hotel figures were up 16.4 percent.

Communications sector sales grew 22.0 percent, oil and oil products were up 36.2 percent, and automobiles up 26.3 percent.