Beijing, Jan 31 (IANS): Beijing retained the top spot as China's biggest shopping city in 2015, as online shopping continued to buoy retail sales and drove older brands to launch e-stores, the media reported on Sunday.

According to a report by Beijing Statistics Bureau, retail sales of consumer goods in the Chinese capital surpassed 1 trillion yuan ($152 billion) in 2015, up 7.3 percent year on year, the China Daily reported.

It is the eighth straight year that the metropolis has led Chinese cities in terms of consumer spending.

Online sales contributed 82.6 percent of sales. Online sales have prompted traditional stores, including 13 of Beijing's 77 "time-honoured brands" from snack stores to shoes sellers, to move their goods online.

The city of 21 million people recorded 1.86 trillion yuan in total consumption in 2015, marking a yearly rise of 8.7 percent. Consumption contributed over 70 percent to the city's GDP growth. Retail sales of consumer goods, a key indicator of consumption, rose 10.7 percent year on year in China last year, contributing 66.4 percent to the country's GDP, the commerce ministry announced.

The ministry expects consumption to remain a strong force driving economic growth this year as the effects of supply-side reform start to pay off.