The person in charge of the consumption Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce talks about China's consumer market from January to February 2021

Since the beginning of this year, departments in charge of commerce at all levels have resolutely implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, firmly implemented the strategy of expanding domestic demand, conscientiously implemented various policies and measures to promote consumption, and innovated various activities to promote consumption. we will ensure the livelihood of the people on the spot for the Spring Festival, take more measures to promote consumption, and serve to build a new development pattern. The consumer market showed restorative growth and got off to a good start. From January to February, retail sales of consumer goods totaled 6.97 trillion yuan, an increase of 33.8 percent over the same period last year and 6.4 percent over the same period in 2019.

First, the consumption of goods is growing rapidly. From January to February, retail sales increased by 30.7% over the same period last year, an increase of 7.7% over the same period in 2019. Among them, retail sales of communications equipment per unit above quota increased by more than 20% over the same period in 2019, and retail sales of cosmetics, gold and silver jewelry and cars increased by more than 10% compared with the same period in 2019. During the Spring Festival Golden week, sales of green health goods such as sterilized appliances and sports and fitness equipment on some e-commerce platforms increased by more than 80 per cent compared with the same period last year, while sales of duty-free shops on outlying islands in Hainan exceeded 1.5 billion yuan, double that of the Spring Festival in 2019.

Second, the new type of consumption is developing rapidly. In order to facilitate the people to purchase New year goods, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, held an online New year Festival (January 20-February 18), during which the national online retail sales reached 905.76 billion yuan. From January to February, online retail sales of physical goods nationwide increased by 30.6 percent over the same period last year, accounting for 20.7 percent of the total social zero. It has become fashionable for workers in the field to send New year's goods to each other with their relatives in their hometown. From January to February, the national express delivery business volume doubled compared with the same period last year.

Third, food and beverage consumption has steadily recovered. On the basis of epidemic prevention and control, the majority of catering enterprises enrich and upgrade dishes, innovate online and offline business models, and strive to provide consumers with safe, high-quality and diverse catering services. From January to February, catering revenue increased by 68.9% year-on-year, returning to about 96% in the same period in 2019. Sales of New year's Eve set meals and semi-finished New year's Eve dinners are booming, and sales of New year's Eve dinner on the platform of Spring Festival Golden week increased by nearly 80% compared with the same period last year

Fourth, local leisure consumption is active. During the Spring Festival, the spending on accommodation in the suburbs of Beijing and Shanghai increased more than twice as much as that of the same period last year. The film market is booming. During the Spring Festival Golden week, the box office of the film reached 7.8 billion yuan, the highest in the same period in history. The box office of the film from January to February increased by more than 7% compared with the same period in 2019.

Fifth, consumer prices have fallen steadily. From January to February, consumer prices fell 0.3 percent from a year earlier, with food prices rising 0.7 percent and non-food prices falling 0.5 percent. Pig production has gradually resumed, reserved meat has been put in an orderly manner, and pork prices have fallen at a high level. Since December last year, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, has organized the release of 140000 tons of central pork reserves; pork prices fell 3.1% month-on-month in February, down 14.9% from a year earlier.

In the first two months of this year, the consumer market continued its rebound since the fourth quarter of last year, with a substantial increase in total social zero due to a low base last year. However, affected by the epidemic, circulation enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, still have many operational difficulties, residents' consumption is still restricted, and efforts need to be made to promote consumption. With the steady improvement of the epidemic prevention and control situation in China, various policies and measures have achieved results, and it is expected that the consumer market as a whole will continue to show a trend of restorative growth in the later period.