In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods actually increased by 8.1%, and the market continued to be active.

  Cctv newsThe National Bureau of Statistics released the data of consumer goods market in the first quarter today. Meng Qingxin, director of the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that China’s consumer goods market continued to be active in the first quarter and the consumption structure continued to be optimized.

  First, the overall consumer goods market continued to be active, and the basic role of consumption in economic growth was further enhanced.

  In terms of nominal growth, in the first quarter, the total retail sales of social consumer goods was 9,027.5 billion yuan, up 9.8% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 0.1 percentage point faster than that in January-February. Among them, in March, the total retail sales of social consumer goods was 2,919.4 billion yuan, up 10.1% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 0.4 percentage points faster than that in January-February. In terms of actual growth, after deducting the price factor, the total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 8.1% in the first quarter, 0.1 percentage points faster than that in January-February; Among them, the actual growth in March was 8.6%, 0.6 percentage points faster.

  Residents’ consumption continues to grow steadily and rapidly, and the market scale continues to expand, which further strengthens the pulling effect on economic growth and becomes a "stabilizer" and a "ballast stone" to keep the economy running smoothly. In the first quarter, the contribution rate of final consumption expenditure to economic growth was 77.8%, which was 46.5 percentage points higher than that of total capital formation.

  Second, emerging formats are booming, and traditional retail continues to pick up.

  With the increasing popularity of the Internet, especially the mobile Internet, emerging consumption such as online retailing has developed rapidly. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of February, the total number of mobile Internet users in China reached 1.28 billion, and the cumulative traffic reached 6.89 billion GB, up by 14.8% and 186% respectively. There were 1.19 billion users using mobile phones to access the Internet, and the Internet traffic reached 6.72 billion GB, up 206% year-on-year, accounting for 97.5% of the total mobile Internet traffic. In the first quarter, the national online retail sales reached 1,931.8 billion yuan, an increase of 35.4%. Among them, the retail sales of physical goods was 1,456.7 billion yuan, up by 34.4%, and the growth rate was 24.6 percentage points higher than the total retail sales of social consumer goods, accounting for 16.1% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods.

  While the emerging formats are growing rapidly, the traditional retail industry actively expands sales channels, accelerates online and offline integration, and continues to maintain a warming trend. According to estimates, in the first quarter, the retail sales of entities above designated size, including supermarkets, department stores and specialty store, increased by 8.9% over the previous year, and the growth rate increased by 1.7 percentage points over the same period of last year; Among them, the retail sales of supermarkets, department stores and specialty stores above designated size increased by 7.7%, 5.5% and 9.6% respectively year-on-year, which was 2.5%, 1.0% and 3.9% higher than the same period of last year, while that of specialty store increased by 9.5% year-on-year, and the growth rate was basically the same as that of the same period of last year.

  Third, the consumption upgrade trend continued, and the basic living consumption increased rapidly.

  With the in-depth implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy and the steady growth of residents’ income, residents’ personalized, quality and diversified consumption needs are constantly expanding. Some commodities related to consumption upgrading continued to maintain rapid growth. In the first quarter, cosmetics, household appliances and other commodities of units above designated size increased by 16.1% and 11.4% year-on-year, respectively, 6.2 and 3.4 percentage points faster than the same period of last year; Automobile products increased by 7.4%, and the growth rate accelerated by 5.1 percentage points. Among them, new energy vehicles and sport utility passenger vehicles (SUVs), which represent the direction of automobile consumption upgrading, grew strongly. According to the statistics of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first quarter, new energy vehicles sold 143,000 vehicles, up 154.3% year-on-year; The sales of sport utility passenger cars (SUVs) reached 2.655 million, up 11.3% year-on-year.

  At the same time of the transformation and upgrading of residents’ consumption, basic living goods continued to grow steadily. In the first quarter, clothing, shoes, hats, needles, textiles and daily necessities of units above designated size increased by 9.8% and 12.3% year-on-year, respectively, accelerating by 3.6 and 3.8 percentage points over the same period of last year, and grain, oil and food also maintained a rapid growth of more than 10%. The catering revenue of units above designated size increased by 8.0% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 0.7 percentage points faster than that of the same period of last year.

  Fourth, the urban and rural structure continued to be optimized, and the proportion of rural markets increased.

  In recent years, the income growth rate of rural residents has continued to be faster than that of cities and towns. The consumption infrastructure such as transportation, logistics and communication in rural areas has been further improved, and e-commerce has been continuously extended to the vast rural areas to promote the continuous release of rural residents’ consumption potential. In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas was 1,317.9 billion yuan, up by 10.7% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 1 percentage point higher than that in cities and towns, accounting for 14.6% of the consumer goods market, up by 0.1 percentage point over the same period of last year.

  Five, the rapid development of tourism and entertainment market, consumer will continue to increase.

  Residents’ cultural entertainment and tourism consumption continued to maintain rapid growth. In the first quarter, the total box office of national movies exceeded 20 billion yuan for the first time, up by 39.8% year-on-year, of which the box office of domestic movies was 15 billion yuan, up by 93.2%, accounting for 74.2% of the total box office from 53.7% in the same period of last year, and continued to occupy a dominant position in the market. The tourism market continues to be hot, and residents’ enthusiasm for traveling is high. According to the comprehensive calculation of the data center of the National Tourism Administration, the whole country received more than 380 million tourists during the Spring Festival this year, up 12.1% year-on-year, and realized tourism revenue of 475 billion yuan, up 12.6% year-on-year.

  With the steady growth of residents’ income and the steady improvement of employment situation, China’s residents’ consumer confidence and willingness to consume continue to increase. According to the consumer confidence survey conducted by the China Economic Climate Monitoring Center of the National Bureau of Statistics, in February, the consumer confidence index of China was 124.0, 1.7 points higher than that of the previous month and 17.9 points higher than the average since 2012, reaching a record high. Among them, the satisfaction index reflecting consumers’ views on the current situation is 119.0, 1.8 points higher than last month and 18.2 points higher than the average since 2012; The expected index reflecting consumers’ views on the future situation is 127.4, 1.7 points higher than last month and 17.7 points higher than the average since 2012.

   Six, the supply of consumer goods is stable, and the demand for consumer logistics is strong

  The industrial production of consumer goods grew steadily and rapidly. In the first quarter, the added value of pharmaceutical, food, computer and other electronic equipment manufacturing industries maintained rapid growth, which was higher than the growth rate of industrial added value above designated size in the same period. Investment in communication, culture, sports, entertainment and education, which are directly related to consumption, has grown rapidly. In the first quarter, investment in culture, sports and entertainment increased by 25.3% year-on-year, 15.9 percentage points faster than the same period of last year; Investment in education increased by 26.9%, accelerating by 14.7 percentage points; The investment in computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing increased by 15.4%, and the transportation, warehousing and postal services increased by 9.7%, all of which were significantly faster than the average growth rate of fixed assets investment in China.

  With the continuous expansion of total consumption, the demand for logistics is strong. In January and February, the total amount of social logistics was 36.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%, and the growth rate was 0.8 percentage points higher than that of the same period of last year. Among them, the total logistics of units and residents’ goods increased by 32.7%. The business volume of express delivery service enterprises nationwide totaled 5.97 billion pieces, an increase of 31.2%.

  Driven by the continuous structural reform on the supply side and the steady growth of residents’ income, the vitality and stamina of domestic demand development will continue to be released, new formats will grow rapidly and new business models will emerge, and traditional physical retail will continue to pick up. China’s consumer goods market is expected to continue to maintain rapid growth. (CCTV reporter Li Juan)