Chinese retail sales rose 15.5 percent in April from a year earlier, highlighting strong consumer spending in China's booming economy.

The biggest increases in April came in building materials, jewelry, and grains and edible oils, the government reported Tuesday.

China has said it wants to boost domestic retail sales to cut its reliance on exports and investment for growth.

Retail sales in April totaled 667.3 billion yuan ($87.0 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. Sales in March rose 15.3 percent.

Sales for the January-April period totaled 2,786 billion yuan ($363.2 billion), up 15.1 percent from the same period last year.

April sales of building and decoration materials rose 31.5 percent from a year ago; April sales of jewelry rose 30.8 percent; and sales of grains and edible oil rose 30.1 percent, statistics showed.

Meat, poultry and egg sales came in next highest, with a 29.9 percent increase over April from a year ago. Cosmetic sales rose 24.7 percent.