China's consumption rebound to boost economic vitality

BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Amidst the reopening of theaters packed with moviegoers, lengthy lines of eager diners flocking to restaurants, a resurgence in holiday travel excitement, and an uptick in shopping sprees, China's consumption sector is experiencing a flourishing period of vitality and this surge is providing a significant boost to the country's overall economic growth.

According to the latest official data, China's retail sales of consumer goods rose 5.8 percent year on year to 11.49 trillion yuan (1.67 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, reversing a decline of 2.7 percent in the final quarter of last year.

In March alone, retail sales jumped 10.6 percent year on year, up 7.1 percentage points from the Jan.-Feb. period. This is the first time since July 2021 that the pace logged double-digit growth, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

"Consumption growth has picked up significantly in the first quarter as COVID-triggered restrictions on consumption gradually waned and pro-consumption policies paid off," said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui.

He added that consumption is playing an increasingly prominent role in driving economic development, contributing to 66.6 percent of China's growth in the first quarter, which is a remarkable improvement from last year.

The consumption of catering, entertainment and tourism grew rapidly in the first quarter with the revenue of China's catering sector increasing by 13.9 percent from a year ago.

Commodity sales also improved during the period. Besides a continued increase in the sales of grain, oil and food, sales of consumption-upgrading goods like jewelry and cosmetics expanded quickly, NBS data showed.

Retail sales at brick-and-mortar stores went up significantly, and online retail sales maintained steady growth, indicating rising consumer confidence, Fu said.

Since the beginning of this year, overall consumption has shown recovery momentum thanks to a range of supportive measures rolled out nationwide, including launching consumption promotion festivals and issuing vouchers for automobile purchases.

At present, solid efforts are needed to increase people's income to further enhance their consumer confidence and capabilities, while combining consumption expansion with supply-side structural reform to unleash consumption potential, said Yang Guangpu, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Indeed, expanding consumption has become a policy priority. China's top economic planner is formulating plans to boost the recovery and expansion of consumption.

"We are working on drafting documents on the recovery and expansion of consumption, mainly focusing on key areas such as stabilizing big-ticket consumption, enhancing service consumption and expanding rural consumption," Meng Wei, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference on Wednesday.

China will strive to stabilize the spending on cars, accelerate the construction of charging piles and urban parking facilities, promote new energy vehicles in rural areas and encourage automobile companies to develop models suitable for use in rural areas.

Meng added that more efforts will also be made to help increase the income of urban and rural residents, ensure the supply and stable prices of basic consumer goods, and foster a favorable environment to improve consumer sentiment.