Beijing continued to reign as the biggest shopping city in China in 2015, even as online shopping continues to support retailing and push old brands to open online stores.

According to Beijing Statistics Bureau's report, in 2015, consumer goods' retail sales exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($152 billion), up by 7.3 percent year-on-year. In terms of consumer spending, Beijing has been on the top position for eight consecutive years already.

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Online shopping accounted for nearly 8.3 percent of the total sales in the city. This pushed 13 traditional stores among Beijing's 77 "time-honored brands" to create online shops.

The city with approximately 21 million people garnered nearly 1.9 trillion yuan in total consumption last year, a yearly increase of 8.7 percent. The consumption also contributes more than 70 percent of Beijing's GDP growth.

In addition, China's retail sales, a key indicator for consumption, increased almost 11 percent year on year in 2015, contributing more than 66 percent of China's GDP, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry expected that consumption will continue to stabilize the economic growth this year as the impact of supply-side reforms begins to pay off.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, retail sales in China increased at an annual rate of more than 11 percent in December 2015. For international brands, despite the market slowdown, demand for high quality products among Chinese consumers still has not changed.

Julian Evans-Prichard of Singapore's Capital Economics believes that by April, the mood over China's economy will change, suggesting that investors will soon realize that the stock markets' strife has not stained the real economy. "That's why we don't put much weight on the stock market as an indicator of economic activity," he said.

TagsBeijing, Consumer Spending, china, online shopping, time-honored brands