In 2004, retail sales of consumer goods reached 6.37 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3 percent over the previous year. This broke down into 2.824 billion yuan of sales in urban areas, an increase of 8.3 percent; 3.545 billion yuan of sales in counties and places below the county level, an increase of 10 percent. Of the total, 5.038 billion yuan came from wholesale trade, an increase of 8.2 percent; 970 million yuan came from restaurant business, an increase of 18.7 percent; and 362 million yuan from other businesses, an increase of 2.1 percent.

Regarding the wholesale business volume, sales of food, beverages, tobacco and wine rose by 68.7 percent; that of garments, hats, shoes and knitwear rose by 43.6 percent; that of oil and oil products rose by 50.9 percent; and that of electrical machinery and equipment rose by 47.2 percent.