Dec. 24 – China’s retail sales for 2008 are expected to reach RMB10.8 trillion, an increase of about 21 percent year-on-year.

According to a report released on Monday by the Ministry of Commerce, sales figures broke the RMB10 trillion mark earlier this month.

“Despite the negative impact of the global financial crisis on the domestic market, retail sales will continue to grow as Christmas and the New Year approach,” it said.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported that China’s retail sales rose 21.9 percent to RMB9.78 trillion in the first 11 months of the year.

Retail sales in China have risen quickly over the past three decades. In 1978, sales amounted to RMB155.9 billion. Those figures jumped to RMB1.1 trillion in 1992, RMB5 trillion in 2003 and RMB8.9 trillion in 2007.