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BEIJING (AP) -- Retail sales in China rose 17.1 percent in August over the same month last year, the government reported Wednesday. The government has been trying to encourage Chinese consumers to spend more in order to reduce reliance on exports to drive economic growth. The August growth rate, reported by the National Bureau of Statistics, was above July's 16.4 percent expansion. The August increase brought growth in retail sales for the first eight months of the year to 15.7 percent compared with the same period in 2006, the statistics bureau said on its Web site. National Bureau of Statistics (in Chinese): http://www.stats.gov.cn
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