BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer spending in the first eight months of this year expanded at a solid pace, with retail sales of consumer goods growing 4.6 percent year on year to 32.39 trillion yuan (about 4.56 trillion U.S. dollars), official data showed Monday.

In August alone, retail sales of consumer goods rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier to nearly 3.97 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Online retail sales remained a bright spot, climbing 9.6 percent year on year to 9.98 trillion yuan in the first eight months, the NBS data showed.

From January to August, retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 28.11 trillion yuan, up 4.6 percent year on year, while retail sales in rural areas amounted to nearly 4.29 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.7 percent year on year.

Sales of physical goods online increased by 6.4 percent to nearly 8.1 trillion yuan, accounting for a quarter of total retail sales.

Among them, sales of food, clothing and daily necessities increased by 15 percent, 2.4 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively, according to the NBS.

NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said at a press conference that the implementation of special actions to boost consumption, the optimization of trade-in programs for consumer goods, and the rollout of childcare subsidies and free preschool education will strengthen individuals' consumption capacity and willingness.

The upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays are also expected to further stimulate consumption, Fu added.

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was down 0.4 percent year on year in August, while the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.9 percent, quickening from July's 0.8-percent increase. August marked the fourth consecutive month of broadened gains in the core CPI.