On April 16, the "report card" of China's economy in the first quarter of 2024 was announced, and a reporter from China Economic Times interviewed think tank scholars to analyze economic performance, circle economic highlights, analyze development characteristics, and look at the positive changes in China's economy in the first quarter from behind the economic data.
Keywords: consumption
Data: According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on April 16, in the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods 120327 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. unscramble
Qi Yunlan, a researcher at the Institute of Market Economy of the Development Research Center of the State Council: In the first quarter, under the background of the national economy continuing to pick up and making a good start, market confidence continued to increase, policies and measures to promote consumption continued to exert force, the national consumer market recovered steadily, and consumption upgrading continued to appear.
It is highlighted in the following aspects.
First, the pace of growth in the consumer market has accelerated, and the growth of automobile retail has helped consumption growth. In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods 120327 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. In March, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 0.26% month-on-month, 0.23 and 0.25 percentage points faster than that in January and February, respectively. According to preliminary statistics, in March, the retail sales of passenger cars were 1.699 million units, a year-on-year increase of 7%, a month-on-month increase of 54%, and a year-on-year increase of 13% in the first quarter. Second, the upgrading of commodity consumption to service consumption continues to appear, providing momentum for consumption growth. In the first quarter, the retail sales of services increased by 10.0% year-on-year, 6 percentage points ahead of the retail sales of goods, of which the catering revenue was 1,344.5 billion yuan, an increase of 10.8%. Third, policies to promote the acceleration of consumption upgrading to provide support for the steady recovery of the consumer market. Policy incentives have driven the retail sales of new energy vehicles to improve, the rapid upgrading of electronic products, and the active tourism and leisure consumption markets, which have provided full support for the smooth and orderly operation of the consumer market. Fourth, new consumption has become the forefront of consumption, driving consumption growth. New consumption models represented by live streaming, short video sales, and social retail have effectively driven consumption growth.
It is expected that in the second quarter, with the implementation of pro-consumption policies such as the "Measures for the Recovery and Expansion of Consumption" and the "Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade-in", the implementation of equipment renewal, consumer goods trade-in, recycling and recycling, and standard improvement actions will effectively promote investment and consumption growth. The implementation of policies to encourage new consumption will promote the deep integration of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data with the consumer market, create more new consumption scenarios, and drive the growth of the consumer market. As the weather warms, holidays such as Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and "May Day" are relatively concentrated on active holiday consumption, releasing consumption potential, and promoting consumption growth.
Interview: Wang Lijuan
Chief Producer丨Wang Hui and Che Haigang
Producer丨Li Piguang, Wang Yu, Liu Weimin
Editor-in-Chief丨Mao Jinghui Editor丨Zou Duo