BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales of consumer goods rose 8.1 percent year on year in the January-October period, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

Total retail sales amounted to 33.48 trillion yuan (about 4.8 trillion U.S. dollars). Excluding sales of automobiles, the growth rate reached 9 percent during this period.

Retail sales in rural areas rose 9 percent, outpacing the 7.9-percent expansion in urban areas.

Online sales continued to see robust expansion with a year-on-year rise of 16.4 percent, NBS data showed.

In terms of consumption types, the revenue of the catering industry rose 9.4 percent in the first 10 months, while the retail sales of commodities climbed 7.9 percent year on year.

The 8.1-percent growth is about the same as the first three quarters with domestic demand steadily expanding, NBS spokeswomen Liu Aihua said at a press conference.

"Many commodities symbolizing the trend of trading-up, such as communication gadgets and sports and recreational gear, had maintained double-digit growth," Liu said. "Residents' consumption is robust in general."

Thursday's data also showed rapid growth in investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services, which rose 14.5 percent and 13.7 percent year on year, respectively.

Liu said snapshots of the structure of retail sales and fixed-asset investment pointed to new economic growth momentum.