BEIJING -- Retail sales in China this year are expected to rise 15 percent year on year to over 17 trillion yuan ($2.58 trillion), amid plans to boost domestic demand, experts said Thursday.

Li Heming, a researcher at the Distribution Productivity Promotion Center of China Commerce, made the forecast.

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Demand for motor vehicles, home appliances and travel will play a key role in Chinese domestic demand this year, analysts said.

Compared with last year, though, the growth rate may be slower, as it is not clear if consumption-promoting measures -- like tax cuts for automobiles and a trade-in program for home appliances -- which expired at the end of 2010 will continue.

Chinese Ministry of Commerce official Wang Xuanqing said the government will take steps to support the development of the nation's service industry.

Analysts expect online shopping to maintain its extraordinary growth rate in 2011, after China's online shopping more than doubled in 2010.

China's retail sales rose 18.4 percent year on year to 15.4554 trillion yuan in 2010, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.