China's retail sales of consumer goods exceed 20t yuan in first 5 months

China's total retail sales of consumer goods, a key indicator of the country's consumption strength, rose 1.4 percent year-on-year to 20.6 trillion yuan ($3.05 trillion) in the first five months of the year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

In May alone, retail sales edged down 0.6 percent from a year earlier and 0.38 percent month-on-month to 4.1 trillion yuan, the bureau said.