China's accommodation and catering retail sales reached 120.36 billion yuan (US$17.4 billion) in May, up 22.4 percent over the same period last year, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday.

But accommodation and catering retail sales in the earthquake-ravaged Sichuan Province dropped 8.5 percent from the previous year to 710 million yuan (US$102.7 million) in May.

The country's total accommodation and catering retail sales stood at 601.29 billion yuan in the first five months, up 23.6 percent over the same period in 2007, 5.9 percentage points higher than last year's figure.

Accommodation and catering retail sales in the first five months accounted for 13.8 percent of the country's total consumer goods retail sales in the same period.

The May 12 earthquake caused no significant impact on accommodation and catering retail sales in other quake-affected regions, including Gansu and Shaanxi provinces as well as Chongqing municipality.

Accommodation and catering retail sales for May in Gansu increased by 17.2 percent, in Shaanxi by 34.2 percent and in Chongqing by 27.1 percent, according to the ministry.

The four regions' accommodation and catering retail sales accounted for only 10.8 percent of the country's total sales and the disaster had no significant impact on the overall accommodation and catering industry.

As the accommodation and catering market resumed normal operations in quake zones, the country's accommodation and catering retail sales are set to continue fast growth, added the ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2008)