Retail sales in Shanghai during the seven-day Spring Festival break were the highest for the period in more than 10 years, city officials said yesterday.

Around 4,000 stores belonging to 460 large and medium-sized retailers rang up combined sales of 5.04 billion yuan (US$769 million) from February 2 until yesterday - an increase of 11.5 percent from a year earlier, the Shanghai Economic Commission said.

These figures were the highest for the holiday since 1999. Daily sales averaged at 721 million yuan.

The commission attributed the increase to sufficient supplies, stable prices, an increase in disposable income among residents and growing numbers of tourists.

The sales peak occurred on February 2 - Chinese New Year's Eve - when purchases rose 4.3 percent from the year before to 791 million yuan.

Retailers in shopping malls, restaurants and service industries all enjoyed robust sales growth. About 120 department stores hauled in 2.2 billion yuan during the week-long holiday, up 20 percent from a year earlier.

Sales at 101 catering establishments rose 18.5 percent to 147 million yuan.

Online shopping and TV purchasing proved popular, with two major operators netting a combined 90 million yuan, up 23.3 percent.

As this is the Year of the Rabbit, gold bars featuring the cuddly creatures proved popular with consumers. Shanghai's gold and jewelry stores turned over a total of 144 million yuan over the past seven days, a jump of 39.8 percent on 2010. Other in-demand lines included clothing and premier alcohol.

Driven by purchase incentives, the replacement of household appliances generated sales of 178 million yuan.

Bailian Group topped the city's retail companies with sales of 1.54 billion yuan.

The Nextage Department Store in Pudong and the New World Department Store on Nanjing Road W. recorded the highest sales among local shopping centers.

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