Retail sales in the US slumped as consumers tightened their belts, while cash registers on the other side of the world were kept busy as China chocked up another month of impressive gains.

China’s retail sales rose 23.2% in August, following last month’s increase of 23.3%, which was the fastest rate of growth since 1996.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported that China’s retail sales in August reached 876.8 billion yuan (US$128.2 billion), and urban consumers contributed 601.5 billion yuan, up 23.9%.

For the first eight months of the year, the increase in China’s consumer goods exceeded 20% year-on-year to reach 6,843.9 billion yuan (US$1 trillion).

China’s urban household disposable income per capita was 8,065 yuan (US$1180) for the first half of this year, up by 6.3% in real terms, while rural incomes (2,528 yuan) increased 10.3% from January to June. The average per capita GDP for 2007 was US$2,456.

China is currently the second largest consumer market in Asia after Japan. According to Boston Consulting Group, China is likely to become the world’s second largest consumer market by 2015, next to the US.

In a recent speech, the Chinese Minister of Commerce said that China will become the largest consumer market in Asia by 2009. The country is already the leader in mobile phone sales, domestic tourism and broadband network penetration.

China is also the second largest seller and buyer of gold and automobiles in the world and ranks third in consumption of luxury items and health care supplies. The Chinese are expected to top the global luxury market by 2014 with a market share of 23%.

For the past five years, China’s annual consumption growth rate had been 13.1%. If the growth rate continues at just 10%, China’s consumer market scale will exceed 30 trillion yuan (US$4.38 trillion) by 2020.