BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer spending in the first eight months of this year expanded at a solid pace, with retail sales of consumer goods growing 4.6 percent year on year to 32.39 trillion yuan (about 4.56 trillion U.S. dollars), official data showed Monday.

In August alone, retail sales of consumer goods rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier to nearly 3.97 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Online retail sales remained a bright spot, climbing 9.6 percent year on year to 9.98 trillion yuan in the first eight months, the NBS data showed.

From January to August, retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 28.11 trillion yuan, up 4.6 percent year on year, while retail sales in rural areas amounted to nearly 4.29 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.7 percent year on year.

Sales of physical goods online increased 6.4 percent to nearly 8.1 trillion yuan, making up a quarter of total retail sales.

Among them, sales of food, clothing, and daily necessities increased by 15 percent, 2.4 percent, and 5.7 percent, respectively, according to the NBS. Enditem