Spending on television, newspaper and magazine advertising in China rose 25 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as companies looked to tap rising consumer sales.

Ad spending totaled 82.6 billion yuan (US$10.3 billion), New York-based research company ACNielsen Corp said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

Companies are looking to tap spending in China on financial services, cars, and electronics spurred by rising incomes in the world's fastest-growing major economy. Retail sales in April rose 13.6 percent from a year earlier to 578 billion yuan, according to government data.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)