China News Service, May 18th. According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, in response to the situation of my country’s consumer market in April this year, the person in charge of the Consumer Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce pointed out that in April, my country’s consumer market continued to show a steady recovery, with traditional consumption upgrading and new Consumption is booming and service consumption continues to pick up. The total amount of social retail is 3.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 17.7% year-on-year and an increase of 8.8% year-on-year.

From January to April, the total amount of social retail was 13.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.6% and an increase of 8.6% over the same period in 2019.

Data map: Consumers buy goods in supermarkets.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Chuhong

　　Mid-to-high-end consumption grew rapidly.

In April, retail sales of goods increased by 15.1% year-on-year and 9.8% year-on-year.

In terms of structure, the retail sales of gold and silver jewelry, clothing, shoes and hats, building materials, furniture, and cosmetics of units above designated size increased by 48.3%, 31.2%, 30.8%, 21.7% and 17.8% respectively year-on-year.

The sales of duty-free products in Hainan Islands duty-free shops increased by 2.5 times year-on-year.

The sales of some large shopping malls and outlets in Shanghai increased by more than 60% year-on-year, and the sales of mid-to-high-end products of some time-honored gold, silver and jewellery companies more than doubled.

　　New types of consumption are booming.

From January to April, the online retail sales of physical goods was 3.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year, accounting for 22.2% of the total retail sales; the express delivery business volume exceeded 30 billion pieces, an increase of approximately 60% year-on-year.

Sales of new energy vehicles reached 732,000, a year-on-year increase of 2.5 times, accounting for 8.4% of vehicle sales; transactions of used cars were 5.445 million, a year-on-year increase of 74.6%, and the ratio to new car sales rose to 0.62:1.

Some e-commerce platforms, such as smart bathroom, smart lighting, smart door locks, and other products, increased sales by more than 50% year-on-year.

　　Service consumption has further recovered.

In April, catering revenue increased by 46.4% year-on-year and 0.8% year-on-year.

Cumulative from January to April, an increase of 67.7% year-on-year, close to the level of the same period in 2019.

During the Ching Ming holiday, 102 million domestic tourists travelled, a year-on-year increase of 144.6%, and recovered to 94.5% of the same period before the epidemic; movie box office revenue exceeded 800 million yuan, setting a record for the same period in history.

　　Consumer prices remained stable.

In April, consumer prices rose by 0.9% year-on-year and decreased by 0.3% month-on-month.

In terms of structure, food prices fell by 0.7% year-on-year, of which pork prices fell by 21.4%, non-food prices rose by 1.3%; consumer goods prices rose by 1%, and service prices rose by 0.7%.

On average from January to April, consumer prices rose by 0.2% over the same period last year.

　　The person in charge also pointed out that, on the whole, the consumer market continues to recover, but the recovery is still uneven, the foundation is not yet solid, and the recovery in some areas is still relatively slow.

In the next step, as various policies and measures to expand domestic demand and promote consumption take effect, and the supply structure continues to be optimized, it is expected that the consumer market will continue to show a steady recovery momentum.