SHANGHAI retailers have had reason to be in a festive mood over the week-long National Day holiday.

Their sales rose faster than at any similar time since 2003, thanks to the throngs attracted by the World Expo and a variety of other crowd-building events.

More than 5,000 outlets of the city's 470 major retailers saw sales rise 24 percent year on year to 7 billion yuan (US$1 billion) since October 1, the Shanghai Commission of Commerce said yesterday.

This year's turnover was more than five times the sales volume of 2000. China began the seven-day holidayarrangement in October 1999.

In 2003, sales jumped 25 percent in the first week of October.

The National Day holiday's sales growth outdid two other major holidays this year. The week-long Spring Festival holiday logged sales growth of 15 percent; the three-day May Day holiday, 22 percent.

"The World Expo, good weather and various activities during the Shanghai shopping and tourism festivals helped boost sales," said Chen Yuxian, a commission official.

The annual Shanghai Shopping Festival dropped its curtain yesterday, helping local merchants chalk up sales of 18 billion yuan in a 27-day period, up 24 percent year on year. The growth pace was 2 percentage points higher than the same period a year ago.

Some 2,000 businesses with more than 20,000 venues took part in this year's shopping carnival, which sponsored more than 500 events. The Shanghai Tourism Festival, which wrapped up on Wednesday, also attracted a record 9 million tourists.

During the National Day holiday, the city's 120 major department stores and shopping centers realized sales of 3.2 billion yuan, up 24 percent year on year and accounting for 46 percent of the total sales.

One hundred local supermarkets and convenience operators posted sales of 2.4 billion yuan during the seven-day period, up 12 percent. TV and online shopping posted growth of 36 percent, to 108 million yuan, during the past week. The catering industry charted sales of 118 million yuan, up 12 percent.

• holiday [´hɔlidi] n.假日，假期，节日 (初中英语单词)
• variety [və´raiəti] n.变化；多样(性)；种类 (初中英语单词)
• commerce [´kɔmə:s] n.商业；社交；交流 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• volume [´vɔlju:m, ´vɑljəm] n.卷；书籍；体积；容量 (初中英语单词)
• arrangement [ə´reindʒmənt] n.整理；排列；筹备 (初中英语单词)
• annual [´ænjuəl] a.每年的 n.年刊 (初中英语单词)
• percentage [pə´sentidʒ] n.百分数；比例；部分 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• commission [kə´miʃən] n.委任(状) vt.委任 (高中英语单词)
• festival [´festivəl] n.节日；庆祝；欢庆 (高中英语单词)
• convenience [kən´vi:niəns] n.方便；适当的机会 (高中英语单词)
• festive [´festiv] a.喜庆的，欢乐的 (英语六级单词)