China retail sales up 10.3 pct in Jan.-Oct.

China's retail sales of consumer goods grew 10.3 percent year on year in the first 10 months this year, slightly down from 10.4 percent for the first three quarters, official data showed Monday.

Retail sales maintained steady and relatively fast growth during the period, according to a statement of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The growth was partly contributed by booming Internet-based sales, with online sales surging 25.7 percent year on year to 3.93 trillion yuan (about 575 billion U.S. dollars) from January to October.

In October, retail sales grew by 10 percent, 0.7 percentage points slower than September, the NBS said.

The data also showed strong consumption in rural areas last month, with retail sales expanding 10.3 percent, outpacing the 10-percent expansion in urban areas.

Booming retail sales are behind China's stabilizing economy, which grew 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2016, steady with the first half of the year, and within the government's target range of between 6.5 and 7 percent for 2016.