Retail sees 20% jump in sales

Retail sales grew the most in 11 years to 20.2 percent in the January-February period year-on-year, on strong consumer spending and rising inflation.

The reading, which matched the December figure, is 5.5 percentage points higher than the same period last year, indicating sustained strong growth due to the government's domestic-demand-centered economic policy, analysts said.

"We believe strong retail sales growth is being driven by robust income growth," Song Yu and Liang Hong, of Goldman Sachs, said in a research note. "We expect the trend to continue going forward."