Market sales picked up obviously, and service consumption improved steadily-consumption showed a recovery trend.

The total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 5.8% year-on-year, and the catering revenue increased by 13.9% … The consumption data in the first quarter showed that with the implementation of a series of policies to promote consumption, consumption scenarios continued to expand and consumption expectations continued to improve, which led to a marked rebound in market sales, a steady improvement in service consumption, and an overall recovery in consumption.

The pulling effect is remarkable

The contribution rate of final consumption to economic growth reached 66.6%, which was significantly higher than last year.

The third China International Consumer Goods Expo held recently in Haikou, Hainan, is a window to observe China’s economy.

This year’s Consumer Expo, the exhibition area increased by 20% compared with the previous one, bringing together more than 3,300 consumer boutique brands from 65 countries and regions, with more than 50,000 buyers and professional visitors … The number of participating brands, the number of new products released and the total number of visitors all reached new highs.

Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that consumption growth rebounded significantly in the first quarter. The total retail sales of social consumer goods was 11,492.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. According to the location of business units, the retail sales of urban consumer goods was 9,966.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%; The retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 1,525.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%.

"In the first quarter of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 5.8% year-on-year, which was significantly higher than that in the fourth quarter of last year; In March, the total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 10.6% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 7.1 percentage points faster than that in January-February. All these indicate that consumption is gradually picking up and improving. " Hong Yong, an associate researcher at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said.

"There are many factors for the recovery of consumption." Hong Yong believes that since the beginning of this year, policies to promote consumption have been introduced one after another, and the employment situation has been generally stable, laying a solid foundation for the steady recovery of residents’ income and consumption. In the first quarter, the per capita disposable income of the national residents was 10,870 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.1% over the same period of last year, and a real increase of 3.8% after deducting the price factor, which was 0.1 and 0.9 percentage points faster than that of the whole year of last year respectively.

The pulling effect of consumption on economic growth has been significantly enhanced. In the first quarter, the contribution rate of final consumption to economic growth reached 66.6%, which was significantly higher than that of last year, and it was the most important factor driving economic growth among the three major demands.

Long-term good prospects

China is in the stage of rapid consumption upgrading, and new scenes and models are constantly emerging.

"China’s consumer demand is more diversified and personalized. Only by developing more new products can we better meet consumer demand." At the Expo, the relevant person in charge of Holland (China) Dairy Group told the reporter.

The concentrated appearance of new products at the Expo reflects the new trend of consumption upgrading in China. "Judging from the consumption data in the first quarter, China’s consumer market has resumed growth, and the characteristics of strong consumption resilience, great potential and full vitality have not changed. The fundamentals of long-term improvement in consumption development have not changed, and the general trend of upgrading consumption has not changed." Zhang Jixing, deputy director of the market research department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said.

Commodity sales rose steadily. With the gradual release of residents’ consumption potential, the growth of upgrading consumption has accelerated, and the consumption of basic life has continued to grow. In the first quarter, the retail sales of goods increased by 4.9% year-on-year. Nearly 70% of the retail sales of 18 categories of commodities above designated size increased year-on-year, among which the retail sales of basic life commodities such as grain, oil and food, clothing, shoes, hats, needles and textiles increased by 7.5% and 9% respectively. The retail sales of upgraded commodities such as gold, silver, jewelry and cosmetics increased by 13.6% and 5.9% respectively.

Online and offline consumption growth has accelerated. With the improvement of market circulation, online consumption continues to improve. In the first quarter, the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 7.3% year-on-year, and continued to maintain rapid growth. At the same time, with the recovery of offline consumption scenes, the retail of physical stores has gradually improved. In the first quarter, the retail sales of retail stores above designated size increased by 3.6% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 3.2 percentage points faster than that in January-February.

"Residents’ propensity to consume is also rising, which means that the expectation of consumption recovery will continue to improve." Zhang Jixing said that with the stabilization and recovery of the economy, the gradual improvement of the employment situation and the increasing consumption scenarios, residents’ consumer confidence has improved, driving the average consumption tendency to rise. In the first quarter, the average consumption tendency of the national residents was 62%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points over the same period of last year.

Zhang Jixing believes that considering all factors, the role of consumption as the "main engine" of economic growth is expected to be further enhanced. On the one hand, employment has gradually improved, and the national urban survey unemployment rate dropped significantly in March, which is conducive to increasing residents’ income and enhancing their spending power. At the same time, new consumption scenes and new models are constantly emerging, which is conducive to stimulating new consumption willingness. From the perspective of medium and long-term development, China is in the stage of rapid upgrading of consumption, and the consumption prospect is promising for a long time.

Supply and demand work together

Residents’ contact consumption such as catering, entertainment and tourism continued to pick up.

"It feels good to be able to enjoy flowers and experience traditional culture." Hao Wei, a citizen who came to visit a thousand acres of rape flower viewing field in Niulou Town, Yanzhou District, Jining, Shandong Province, said. Many theme activities, such as "poetry exhibition" and "immersive stage play", have enhanced the sense of participation and experience of the tour, and tourists come to enjoy the flowers and view the scenery in an endless stream.

The local government will vigorously develop "flower sightseeing+rural tourism" and create new products and models of rural tourism that promote agricultural experience, parent-child interaction and leisure sightseeing, so as to better meet the needs of tourists and boost rural revitalization.

The data shows that China’s service consumption, including tourism, has rebounded significantly. In the first quarter, residents’ contact consumption such as catering, entertainment and tourism increased rapidly. The national catering revenue was 1,213.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%. From the per capita situation of residents, in the first quarter, the per capita service consumption expenditure of the national residents increased by 6.2% year-on-year, which was obviously faster than the per capita consumption expenditure of all residents.

Tourism demand is still picking up. According to the data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, on the holiday day in Tomb-Sweeping Day this year, there were 23,766,400 domestic tourists, an increase of 22.7% compared with that in Tomb-Sweeping Day last year. According to the data of online travel platform, the demand for domestic long-distance travel and outbound travel increased significantly during the May 1 holiday this year.

According to the data of the US Mission and public comments, as of April 10th, the booking volume of domestic accommodation, transportation and scenic spots tickets during the May 1st holiday increased by about 200% compared with the same period in 2019. According to the data of Tuniu Travel Network, during the "May 1" holiday, the number of domestic long-distance travel and outbound travel bookings accounted for 56% and 15% respectively; Booking for local tours and Zhou Bianyou continued to accelerate.

"The current rapid warming of the cultural tourism market is the result of the joint efforts of both supply and demand." Wu Ruoshan, deputy director of the Cultural Tourism Policy Research Center of China Institute of Labor Relations, believes that various localities and departments have successively introduced relevant measures and introduced policies such as preferential tickets for scenic spots, which has effectively promoted the release of tourism consumption demand. On the supply side, new technologies such as deep integration of cultural tourism and digitalization have been accelerated in the field of tourism, which has spawned more popular cultural tourism integration products and smart tourism products.

"The direction of the rapid upgrading of cultural tourism consumption has not changed, the huge potential of market development has not changed, and the trend of high-quality development of the industry has not changed. With the implementation of various policies and the continuous improvement of tourism supply level, the potential and vitality of China’s cultural tourism market will be further released, and the recovery trend of the tourism market will be further enhanced. " Wu Ruoshan said. (Reporter Kelly Shi Zhe Li Xinyi Sun Haitian)