BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales grew 17 percent to 13.0811 trillion yuan (2.05 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Tuesday.

In September, the country's retail sales grew 17.7 percent from a year earlier and were up 1.35 percent from August.

Urban retail sales increased 17.1 percent year-on-year to 11.33 trillion yuan in the first nine months, while rural retail sales climbed 16.4 percent to 1.75 trillion yuan, the NBS said.

The catering sector generated sales of 1.47 trillion yuan, a rise of 16.5 percent from a year earlier, while commodities retail sales increased 17 percent to 11.61 trillion yuan.

Auto sales grew by 16 percent during the first three quarters, down 18.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

The government slashed its car purchase tax for small-engine vehicles from 10 percent to 5 percent in 2009. It raised the lowered tax to 7.5 percent in 2010, and then put it back at the normal rate at the start of this year.

Sales of furniture jumped 31.4 percent during the same period, down 7 percentage points from a year earlier, while sales of home appliances and audiovisual equipment climbed 20.5 percent, down 7.6 percentage points from a year earlier, the NBS said.