Consumption expected to maintain upturn amid current vitality: MOFCOM

Tourists visit a ceramics low-price shopping area in Liling City, central China's Hunan Province, Sept. 26, 2024. Liling of Hunan Province boasts a long history of ceramic production. The city now has more than 650 ceramic production enterprises and nearly 200,000 related employees. In recent years, local ceramic production enterprises have intensified their efforts to improve their techniques of making ceramics. Some of them have also organized ceramics-making experience activities and low-price shopping areas to attract tourists. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's recent consumption market has shown vitality, with various exhibitions nationwide, steadily growing goods consumption, energetic services consumption and booming sales of new types of smart and green products, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday.

He Yongqian, a MOFCOM spokesperson, said that the consumer market is expected to maintain its upturn, boosted by the ministry's organized monthly event as well as firm policy support from trade-ins of consumer goods to the incremental pro-growth policies that are further taking effect.

As of Monday, 1.886 million applications had been submitted for subsidies for scrapping old cars and buying new ones, and more than 1.8 million applications had been submitted for subsidies for replacing and renewing vehicles. Some 21.608 million consumers bought 32.719 million home appliances in eight categories, according to He.

Moreover, emerging consumer trends showed a shift toward sustainable and innovative consumption. Digital, green, smart, and health-oriented products are gaining significant traction, with sales of energy-saving appliances and smart robots doubling, said the spokesperson.

He pointed to the wide range of exhibitions held nationwide recently as a major highlight of the contemporary consumption market, represented by the just-concluded 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE)

Some 450 new products and services from around the world were showcased at this year's CIIE. More than 200 were initially introduced in China while more than 100 made their global debuts.

He also noted that new types of products related to digitalization, the green sector, smart items, and health are highly popular, while companies are leveraging artificial intelligence to meet growing consumer demand, such as intelligent fitting mirrors, reflecting the evolving nature of consumer preferences and the retail landscape.

As for the vital services consumption, He said that sales of restaurants and lodging, leisure, and entertainment establishments increased by more than 10 percent year-on-year in the first half of November.

Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com reported very strong sales during the 2024 "Double 11"shopping festival. For instance, Taobao and Tmall reported a significant increase in sales as of 12 pm on Monday, with 589 brands exceeding 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in sales, a 46.5 percent increase from a year earlier.