SHANGHAI'S retail sales in the first nine months of the year jumped 17.4 percent to 334.9 billion yuan (US$49 billion), boosted by promotions during the Olympics and campaigns to market the World Expo 2010 which the city will host, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday.

The monthly sales grew by double-digit rates from a year ago and surpassed 35 billion yuan. May was a record at 38.6 billion yuan, followed by 38.5 billion yuan in September.

"The city's spending growth was steady and helped to support economic expansion,'' said Wu Yanrong, an analyst with the bureau.

''The frequent events to promote the Olympics and the World Expo helped to whet people's appetite to consume. Also, people spent more on advanced and high-technological products, which showed their growing purchasing power," Wu said.

Through September, the sales of home appliances jumped 23 percent to 40.3 billion yuan while spending on telecommunications equipment gained 19.9 percent to 7.9 billion yuan.

Sales of automobiles rose 28.2 percent to 21.4 billion yuan. With increasing vehicle population, people also spent more on energy consumption which swelled 31.7 percent to 4.9 billion yuan in the first three quarters.

But spending on food and daily necessities - making them the core of consumption - accounted for 40.4 percent and 46.2 percent of the total sales increase.