BEIJING -- Ernst & Young, a leading global professional services firms, forecasts that China's retail sales will maintain fast growth in the coming years.

The sector will grow on average 14 percent between 2007 and 2010, Ernst & Young forecast in a report published on Tuesday, based on the country's booming economic development.

In 2007, China's retail sales will hit 8.6 trillion yuan (about US$1.1 trillion), and the figure will climb to 12.81 trillion yuan in 2010, said the report.

It also predicted that the country's retail sales will hit 7.6 trillion yuan this year, with an annual growth rate of 12-13 percent.