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China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption growth, fell by 2.8 percent year-on-year in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said today.

The figure rebounded from a drop of 7.5 percent in April, NBS data showed.

In mid-May Premier Li Keqiang tol the National People's Congress, the China will "boost consumption and expand investment in a mutually reinforcing way.''

"The potential of China's domestic demand is enormous. We will promote the recovery of consumption… We will apply a combination of measures to boost consumption and meet diverse demands among consumers," Li said on the opening day on May 22.

As a result of the deadly, devastating coronavirus epidemic that emerged in Wuhan in Hubei province, retail sales fell by 7.5 percent in April compared with the same period last year, but narrowed from a 15.8 percent tumble in March. That was boosted by the issuing of spending vouchers.

Data from the National Bureau Statistics, show that total retail consumer goods sales in the first quarter tumbled by 19 percent year-on-year to 7.86 trillion yuan, slightly rebounding from a drop of 20.5 percent in the first two months, while the sales in March fell by 15.8 percent, 4.7 percentage points narrower than that in January-February period.

China's May retail sales rebound slightly