China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that the total volume of retail sales rose by 10 percent in the first half of 2017 to 17.2 trillion yuan compared to last year's figures for the same period.

The ministry also said that the volume of retail sales in June increased by 11 percent over the same period last year. 

It represents the fastest growth in the past 18 months. 

The ministry said consumption accounted for 63 percent of China's economic growth in the first half of this year, adding that green and sharing consumption became a market hot spot. 

"The year-on-year growth rate of the first level energy efficiency green air-conditioners, refrigerators, and televisions from the key retail enterprises are 29.9 percent, 15 percent and 20.7 percent, respectively, higher than those regular non-green products. China's sharing economy has seen rapid growth, with sharing bicycles becoming a consumption choice for people's daily lives,” Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said. 

Moreover, the growth in online retail sales remained strong, hitting 3.1 trillion yuan in the first half of this year, up 33.4 percent and accounted for more than one third of the total. 

Online retail sales are playing an increasingly key role in driving growth as the sector's market scale remains at more than 30 percent, said the ministry. 

New models and types of businesses have been behind the increase, according to the ministry. 

In addition, China's domestic brands accounted for 74.5 percent of the retail sales in the first half of 2017 thanks to online purchases.