Golden Week: China Sees Boost in Consumption Following Its Week-Long Holiday

Per the report released by the Ministry of Commerce of the government of China, the consumption during the holidays was fueled by increased tourist activities across the country.

Per the ministry, average sales of consumer foods as well as beverages rose by 4.9% when compared with the figures from the Golden week holiday in 2019. The country generated about 1.6 trillion yuan from these sales in the 7-day holidays which spanned from the first of October through the 8th. Besides retail consumption. Tourism revenue across China hit 466.56 billion yuan (69.7 billion US dollars), 69.9 percent of that in the same period in 2019, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

To consolidate the growth in China’s consumption trends, the Hainan province also released data showing that duty-free sales grew by 150% compared to the same period last year. Hainan’s local customs said that tourist visits on the Island surged by 40 percent to hit a record 146,800.

The consumption growth trend in China is consolidated across the board during the entire holiday as sales on popular e-commerce sites including JD.com, and Alibaba’s TMall Global amongst others revealed. Sales on the latter’s platform rose by 79 percent during the holidays.

The Chinese government through the ministry of commerce has adduced the performance seen in the company’s economy to a strategic effort to keep the prices of essential goods stable. As noted by the ministry, the prices of such essential food items including meat, flour, pork, and others reduced to boost people’s purchasing power.

China and the Masses Consumption Suggests Recovering Economy

Several analysts have suggested that the rate of consumption in China as seen during the holidays is an indication of how China’s economy is on a positive recovery path. As reported by the Global Times, CNN noted that the country’s share of global Gross Domestic Product will likely increase by 17.5% up from 1.1 citing data from the World Bank.

Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie said on Friday that “It’s clear that consumption, especially service consumption, is on the mend.” Hu also went on to express optimism that the service sector is complimenting infrastructure and exports and real estate which originally is responsible for driving about 50 percent of the economy’s growth.

With the coronavirus disease beginning its menace in China almost a year ago, the country has obviously fared relatively well compared to other countries both in containing the virus and in channeling the country’s economy towards a path of full recovery. Despite the trade wars with the United States whose negotiations are somewhat resuming, Foreign buyers including those from the U.S. favor Chinese products, contributing more to the perceived growth in the economy.