National Bureau of Statistics: The retail sales of products related to the "cash for clunkers" program continue to grow rapidly.

The spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, Fu Linghui, introduced at the press conference of the State Council Information Office on the 15th that, from the perspective of consumption, in August, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 3.4% year-on-year, and the retail sales of goods related to trade-ins continued to increase rapidly. The potential of service consumption is also continuously being unleashed, with tourism, leisure, cultural events, information and communication services being more active. The retail sales of services in the first 8 months increased by 5.1% year-on-year, with a growth rate faster than that of retail sales of goods. In terms of investment, fixed asset investment in January-August increased by 0.5% year-on-year, with manufacturing investment increasing by 5.1%, significantly faster than overall investment, providing strong support for the upgrading and development of the manufacturing industry.