CCTV News
(News Network): General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that it is necessary to enhance consumption capacity, improve consumption conditions, and innovate consumption scenarios to fully release consumption potential. Since the beginning of this year, a series of precise and effective macro policies have continued to be effective, stimulating the vitality of the super-large-scale domestic demand market, and the consumer market has maintained a positive trend in the first quarter.
Bone conduction sports headphones that are not afraid of water, and contactless elevator buttons that are suspended...... At the 4th Consumer Expo held in Hainan, exhibits representing healthy, intelligent and high-quality consumption trends have become the mainstream, and more than 800 newly released single products are entering people's lives one after another, changing from short-term exhibits to long-term products.
A richer and higher-quality consumer market is better meeting the needs of the people for a better life. At the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that China has the demand advantage of a super-large-scale market, and it is necessary to stimulate potential consumption, and make specific arrangements around cultivating and expanding new consumption, stabilizing and expanding traditional consumption, etc.
In the first quarter, a series of policies and measures to expand domestic demand and promote consumption were made more efforts to stimulate the vitality of the consumer market. The Ministry of Commerce has identified this year as the "Year of Consumption Promotion", and has carried out various characteristic activities around the themes of spring renewal, festivals and seasons, and characteristic folk customs, so as to promote the in-depth integration of various consumption formats such as business travel, culture and sports. At the same time, the state launched the trade-in action of consumer goods to release the consumption potential of bulk commodities such as automobiles and household appliances. Since the launch of a series of activities in Shanghai, the sales of subsidized green smart home appliances have reached nearly 200 million yuan.
In the first quarter, a series of measures aimed at market blockages made precise efforts to activate potential consumption.
For the first time, the state issued guidance on promoting the high-quality development of the catering industry, enriching the supply of catering, improving the dining environment, building well-known brands, and improving the quality of catering consumption. According to the latest data, in the first quarter of this year, the national catering revenue reached 1,344.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.8%.
The construction of key business districts and quarter-hour convenient living circles is advancing simultaneously, and the integrated experience of offline consumption is stronger. In the first quarter, residents' consumption of upgraded goods continued to improve, and the retail sales of sports and entertainment goods and communication equipment of units above designated size increased by 14.2% and 13.2% respectively.
Digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) have empowered life service scenarios, and new retail formats such as instant retail and live streaming are booming. In the first quarter of this year, the country's online retail sales exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%.
In the first quarter, the retail sales of rural consumer goods increased by 5.2%, faster than urban consumption.
Urban micro-renewal and light renovation have also transformed many old buildings and old factories into new consumption spaces. Recently, a cultural and creative block at the foot of the city wall of Xi'an has been renovated, while retaining the style of the old vegetable market, the block has introduced a number of new formats such as special catering, art space, photography studio, etc., turning into a trendy consumption gathering place, attracting many young people to come to check in and consume.
This year, holiday consumption continues to be hot, and various localities have adapted measures to local conditions, innovated consumption scenarios, and created new consumption growth points such as culture, sports and leisure, and characteristic tourism. From the ice and snow consumption that was popular all over the north and south at the beginning of the year, to the trendy domestic products to celebrate the New Year during the Spring Festival holiday, and then to the upsurge of flower appreciation in spring, the consumer market has been hot, and bright spots have appeared frequently, forming a new consumption scene in the whole area at all times. During the Spring Festival holiday, the number of trips and tourism revenue in mainland China both exceeded the level of 2019, achieving double-digit growth compared with 2023. In the first quarter of this year, the mainland's retail sales of service consumption increased by 10.0 percent, and the per capita service consumption expenditure of residents increased by 12.7 percent.
With the steady improvement of the national economy, favorable conditions have been created for expanding residents' consumption capacity, effective policies and consumption activities have been driven by two wheels, promoting the continuous expansion of consumption space, and the potential of urban and rural consumption will continue to be released, injecting a steady stream of impetus into economic development.