Spring Festival to glow with spending boom

China has been basking in festive hustle and bustle as Chinese people prepare to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year with strong consumer sentiment. From the travel surge during the eight-day holiday to a bustling festival shopping spree, the Spring Festival is set to witness a booming consumer market, highlighting the vitality and momentum of the Chinese economy.

According to data released by the Ministry of Transport on Sunday, China saw a total of 273 million cross-regional trips on Saturday, the 12th day of the Spring Festival travel rush period, an increase of 17.3 percent on a yearly basis.

Residents' willingness to travel increased during the holiday - the first Spring Festival since the inscription of "Spring Festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of traditional new year" on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2024. According to a report released by Chinese travel agency Tongcheng Travel Holdings Ltd on Tuesday, searches for scenic spots and travel products related to intangible cultural heritage have jumped 87 percent year-on-year since January.

Amid the "China Travel" craze, a large number of foreign tourists are expected to gain a deep experience of Chinese New Year, with Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province and Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province among popular inbound tourism destinations, according to Tongcheng.

Umetrip, an official mobile platform for real-time flight information, told the Global Times that the number of domestic air ticket bookings for the Spring Festival holidays (from January 28 to February 4) exceeded 11.72 million by Sunday; inbound and outbound air ticket bookings exceeded 1.82 million by the same time, up about 21 percent from the last Spring Festival holiday.

"Inbound tourism via our platform is expected to increase by about 20 percent on a yearly basis during the upcoming Spring Festival, with tourists mainly from countries including South Korea, Japan, Central and Eastern European countries, and Southeast Asian countries," Xu Xiaolei, a marketing manager from CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Festival shopping spree

In addition to the travel surge, fresh steam is being added to the Chinese New Year consumption drive, as the world's second-largest economy taps its huge market and creates new scenarios and products for a large number of consumers.

"There are some new changes in Chinese consumers' special purchases for the Spring Festival," Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times.

From crowded fairs for the Spring Festival to online shopping, the new trend reflects a range of new business models. From local specialties and common purchases for the Spring Festival such as liquor and sugar to more "guochao", or "national wave" (which refers to products packed with traditional Chinese cultural elements) as well as more high-tech products, the trend highlights increasingly rich supply amid China's economic growth and the country's evolving consumer habits, according to Zhang.

A 35-year-old Beijing-based white-collar worker named Liu Jie told the Global Times on Sunday that he bought a wrist electronic pressure meter for his father, which he thought was better than regular specialty products.

According to data released by Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao on January 15, the transaction volume of handmade lanterns on the platform surged 221 percent month-on-month in January, reflecting the popularity of intangible cultural products during the holiday.

Meanwhile, Chinese consumers are enjoying an expanding menu of global flavors. Earlier this month, a cargo ship loaded with 20,000 tons of Chilean cherries arrived at Nansha Port in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong Province, perfectly timed to offer a festive treat for millions, the Xinhua News Agency reported, displaying China's growing consumption power and expanding imports.

In addition to goods consumption, leisure activities are also proving popular among Chinese consumers. According to Chinese online movie ticket platform Taopiaopiao, China's advance ticket bookings for movies set to be released during the upcoming Spring Festival holidays have exceeded 600 million yuan ($82.81 million) as of Sunday noon, marking a strong start to the world's second-largest film market this year.

Economic vibrancy

The Spring Festival of the Year of the Snake offers the world a window into China's economic vibrancy, which boosts market expectations and confidence and augurs well for 2025.

"The robust consumption performance during the Spring Festival is expected to give a strong start to China's economy this year and inject fresh impetus into the global economy," Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

China's economic expectations this year will outperform those of last year, Cao said, noting that the economy has great resilience and potential thanks to its ultra-large market, ongoing industrial transformation and upgrade, high-level opening-up, and evolving consumption structure.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently upgraded China's economic growth forecast for 2025 to 4.6 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from October's projection, according to its World Economic Outlook released on January 17.

"I'm bullish on China's economy in the medium and long term. China is now taking steps to stimulate the economy and increase domestic consumption," said Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum, the Xinhua News Agency reported on January 22.

The tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference held in Beijing in December pointed out that more proactive and impactful macro policies should be implemented to sustain the upward trend of the economy, sending a crystal-clear signal on the Chinese policymakers' confidence and resolve to maintain a sound economic trajectory characterized by both reasonable speed and higher quality.

"China's economy is not a small pond, but a vast ocean that can potentially keep all ships afloat. It grew by 5 percent year-on-year to reach a record 134.9084 trillion yuan (about $18.77 trillion) in 2024, which lays a good foundation for quality development of the world's second-largest economy," Cao said.