China’s consumer market continued its steady development in July with further expansions expected as the economy is generally stable, an official with the Market Operation Department of the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.
From January to July, the country’s online retail sales increased by 29.1% year-on-year, 0.2 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year, accounting for 17.3% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, an increase of 3.5 percentage points over the same period of the previous year.
In July alone, the Ministry of Commerce's key monitoring network retail sales increased by 22.8% year-on-year, which was 20.9, 18.5, and 18.1 percentage points higher than that of department stores, shopping centers, and supermarkets.
Affected by the increase in summer travel and rising prices, the sales of petroleum and products increased by 18.4% year-on-year in July, 12.8 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year.
Sales of daily necessities, communication equipment, clothing, gold and silver jewelry increased by 11.3%, 9.6%, 8.7%, and 8.2%, respectively with the growth rate accelerated by 4.2, 1.7, 2.3, and 5.6 percentage points respectively over the same period of the previous year.
Affected by the reduction of import tariffs on automobiles and the promotion of domestic auto sales, the sales of autos above designated size fell by 2% year-on-year, and the decline was narrowed by 5 percentage points from the previous month.
The sales of home appliances, building materials and furniture increased by 0.6%, 5.4 and 11.1% respectively, slowing by 12.5, 7.7 and 1.3 percentage points respectively compared with the same period of the previous year.
According to the prediction of the China Tourism Research Institute, in July and August, 1 billion tourists visited scenic spots across the country, accounting for 1/5 of the annual travel volume. The average per capita spending of summer tourists is expected to reach 4,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%.
(Source: ourjiangsu.com)
