TOTAL sales at major retailers in Shanghai during the weeklong National Day holiday jumped nearly 18 percent from a year earlier as local shoppers took advantage of heavy discounts offered during the citywide shopping festival.

Consumers spent a record high 7.1 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), up an annual 17.6 percent, at 5,000 stores of 456 large- and middle-sized local retailers during October 1 to 7, according to data released by the Shanghai Commission of Commerce yesterday.

Though the sales growth is slower from the same period of last year when the city also hosted the World Expo, the jump is still 6.1 percentage points higher than the sales recorded during the Spring Festival earlier this year. More than 1 billion yuan on average was recorded in daily sales during the National Day period.

The commission attributed the surge in retail sales to heavy holiday shopping discounts by retailers as well as the current Shanghai Shopping Festival, which offered various promotion activities.

The New World Department Store on Nanjing Road W. boosted sales by 40 percent to 200 million yuan during the seven-day holiday. Total sales at other major department stores also climbed 18 percent to 2.4 billion yuan during the past week.

The fifth edition of the monthlong shopping festival, which ended yesterday, generated an annual rise of 17 percent in total revenue of 23.3 billion yuan among 469 other retailers.

Department stores and shopping centers in downtown districts including Huangpu, Jing'an, and Xujiahui business hub as well as the Pudong New Area held events to encourage consumers to spend on apparel, wine, gold and jewelry.

Restaurants rang up 1.3 billion yuan, up 9 percent annually, while other smaller retailers reported their sales jump 18.5 percent to 22 billion yuan in the period.