BEIJING-- China's retail sales grew 17.2 percent to 1.4408 trillion yuan ($222 billion) in July from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Tuesday.

The July retail sales expanded by 1.26 percent from June. From January to July, the country's retail sales rose 16.8 percent year-on-year to 10.02 trillion yuan, according to the NBS.

Urban retail sales increased 17.3 percent year-on-year to 1.25 trillion yuan in July, while rural retail sales climbed 16.4 percent to 191.9 billion yuan, the NBS said.