The Ministry of Commerce says retail sales in China grew steadily in August on the back of strong online sales.

China's retail sales grew 10.6 percent year on year in August, accelerating from 10.2 percent growth in July thanks to robust online sales. At the same time, the sale of automobiles also increased.

"Sales of new energy cars increased rapidly, by 92.2 percent year on year. Sales of passenger vehicles in August was 1.796 million, up 26.3 percent year on year. Sales of passenger vehicles under 1.6 litres increased 40.7 percent, 0.7 percentage points more than the previous month," said Li Xizhen, Deputy Director of Market Operation Dept, Ministry of Commerce.

The surge in sales was partly due to low sales during the same period last year. Favorable government policies also played a role. 

"Our country has a policy that the purchase tax can be cut in half on low-emission cars. And there's no limited policies on getting licenses for new energy cars," Li said.

Real estate sales also rebounded while the entertainment sector grew rapidly during the summer vacation. Both helped support August's sales spurt.