OREANDA-NEWS. Anhui's retail sales grew 16 percent year-on-year to 101 billion yuan (USD 16.5 billion) from January to April, local authorities announced.

The rise was higher than 15.9 percent for the first quarter of 2013 and 10.4 percent for the national average during the same period, the Anhui Provincial Bureau of Statistics said.

In April alone, retail sales reached 25.4 billion yuan, up 16.4 percent from a year earlier.

In breakdown, 21 out of 25 types of major commodities saw an increase in sales revenues last month. Jewelry sales surged 80.2 percent year-on-year in the wake of a sharp dip in the price of gold. Meanwhile, retail sales of food, make-up, home appliances and cars moved up 23.3 percent, 21.1 percent, 14.2 percent and 16.9 percent over the same period a year ago, respectively.