China's retail sales grew at the fastest pace in more than three years, buoyed by higher prices and rising incomes.

Sales climbed 17.1 percent to 711.7 billion yuan in August after gaining 16.4 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.

The pace of sales growth has accelerated for five straight months. The gain was the biggest since May 2004 after adjusting for distortions caused by the Lunar New Year holidays.