China to outdo past retail records

China, as estimated by the Israel Export Institute, is expected to witness a 15.8% increase in its retail sales during 2007, the highest since a decade. Comparing figures to last year, the retail increase was 13.7% in 2006. For 2007, sales have been targeted to touch $1.15 billion by the year-end.

This optimistic spurt in retail is cited because of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in China increasing by 11.5% during the first half of 2007, while the second quarter solely recorded a rise of 11.9% GDP. The increase in GDP outdid the estimates of an 8% rise and according to the Chinese government, China's GDP at the end of 2006 performed at $2.7 trillion, making it the world's third largest economy.