China’s Smart-Glasses Sales Double in First Eight Months of Year

China’s sales of smart glasses on key platforms more than doubled in the first eight months of the year, while those of electrocardiogram monitors rose 75% and action cameras gained about 27%, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Sunday.

Service retail sales climbed 4.9% in the January-August period, outpacing goods by 3.9 percentage points, with tourism-related and leisure services maintaining rapid growth during the summer holiday period. The ministry said consumption patterns continued to shift toward a greater balance between goods and services spending.

Petroleum-product sales fell 6.1% as new energy use increased, according to the ministry.

Rural retail sales rose 2.3%, 1.3 percentage points faster than in urban areas, while county and rural markets accounted for 39% of the total for retail consumer goods, up 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier.