Better play the fundamental role of consumption in economic development
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "China will follow the trend of domestic consumption upgrading, adopt more active and effective policy measures, promote the increase of residents' income, enhance consumption capacity, cultivate new growth points for mid-to-high-end consumption, continue to release domestic market potential, and expand import space."
Since the beginning of this year, various localities and departments have introduced a series of policies and measures to stabilize growth and promote consumption, make concerted efforts and comprehensively implement policies, so as to give better play to the fundamental role of consumption in economic development.
In the first quarter, my country's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 10.9 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%; final consumption expenditure contributed 69.4% to economic growth, making it the first driving force for economic growth.
Despite the recent impact of the epidemic, the growth of consumption has been suppressed to a certain extent, but in general, the characteristics of my country's consumer market with great potential and strong resilience have not changed.
With the implementation of various policies and measures effective, consumption will continue to maintain a recovery trend.
The overall recovery and development trend of the consumer market has not changed
Judging from the economic data for the first quarter released by the National Bureau of Statistics, there are many bright spots in the consumer market. In particular, online consumption has an obvious driving effect, and consumer demand for information services continues to release, which strongly supports the continued recovery and development of consumption.
In March, affected by the epidemic, residents went out to shop and eat less, and market sales were obviously hindered.
The total retail sales of consumer goods in the month fell by 3.5% year-on-year, of which catering revenue fell by 16.4% year-on-year.
At the same time, the contribution rate of online retail to market sales growth has increased.
In the first quarter, the national online retail sales of physical goods increased by 8.8% year-on-year, 4 percentage points faster than that in the fourth quarter of 2021, driving market sales growth by more than 1.5 percentage points.
"Since this year, the overall recovery and development trend of my country's consumer market has not changed." Wang Yun, deputy director of the Institute of Foreign Economics of the China Academy of Macroeconomics, said that my country has a population of more than 1.4 billion, including more than 400 million middle-income groups. The super-large domestic demand market has great potential.
In the first quarter, the contribution rate of final consumption expenditure to economic growth is still the largest, and the role of consumption "ballast stone" is still obvious.
——New products and new models are sought after, and new types of consumption are developing rapidly.
"It is both delicious and healthy, and the 'control card meal' in the supermarket is very suitable for my taste." Wei Ling, a citizen who came to buy a fresh food supermarket in Daxing District, Beijing, said.
"Control Card Meal" is divided into two boxes, including main food and main course.
The staple food is composed of comprehensive coarse grains, etc. The main dish is one meat and two vegetables, including meat, vegetables, etc., each serving is not high in calories, and is welcomed by many consumers.
Emerging consumption represented by new products and new models has become a new growth point in the consumer market.
In the first quarter, the national online retail sales reached 3,012 billion yuan, an increase of 6.6%.
Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods was 2,525.7 billion yuan, an increase of 8.8%, accounting for 23.2% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods.
—— Actively innovate service consumption, and gradually implement supporting policies.
"On the rafting canal, the lights are shining and the opera melody is melodious, which is really intoxicating." Recently, in the "Canal Memory" historical and cultural block of Rencheng District, Jining City, Shandong Province, a citizen Wang Weijian said.
The local night economic block based on the advantages of Canal culture and tourism resources, brings consumers a new experience of "Canal Night Tour" through the integration and innovative development of culture and tourism.
Temporarily refund the guarantee for the quality of tourism services, provide subsidies and support for regular nucleic acid testing of employees of catering companies, use service industry development funds to support the construction of county-level commercial systems, and establish a green channel for the registration and issuance of debt financing instruments for airlines and civil aviation airports severely affected by the epidemic... ...In February of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments formulated and issued the "Several Policies on Promoting the Recovery and Development of Difficult Industries in the Service Industry", proposing financial subsidies, tax reductions, financial credit, epidemic prevention and control and other policies and measures to help Enterprises in the service industry have stabilized their expectations and tided over the difficulties.
——The demand for upgraded commodities is large, and the sales are ushered in rapid growth.
In the first quarter, the sales of basic daily necessities in my country were good, and the retail sales of grain, oil, food and daily necessities of units above designated size increased by 9.3% and 6.6% respectively.
The sales of upgraded commodities grew rapidly, and the retail sales of cultural and office supplies and gold, silver and jewelry in units above designated size increased by 10.6% and 7.6% respectively.
New technologies bring new offerings of more products and services
Chen Lifen, a researcher at the Institute of Market Economy of the Development Research Center of the State Council, believes that the accelerated application of new technologies represented by the Internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, etc. in the consumer sector will not only bring more new supply of products and services, but also profound changes. People's consumption ideas and consumption patterns.
——Looking at the products, innovation and creation emerge in an endless stream.
"The new products we developed based on market demand data have been well-received as soon as they were launched." said Zhou Kun, a technical researcher at Xiangcheng Lianhua Healthy Flour Co., Ltd. in Henan Province. More than 30 new products such as bread crumbs, bread flour and gluten have been produced, and the added value has been greatly improved.
——Look at the circulation, accelerate the integration of online and offline.
"Whether it's a movie or a meal, you can book online in advance." Luo Ziwei, a resident of Junnanfu Community, Qingyunpu District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, often takes her children to the Wangfujing Shopping Center in Nanchang for leisure and shopping.
In her opinion, the environment of shopping malls is getting better and better, and the products are more abundant.
"On the basis of making a fuss about consumer experience, physical shopping malls are more competitive." Xing Yan, project leader of Nanchang Wangfujing Shopping Center, said that on the basis of giving full play to the advantages of offline shopping, fully embrace new technologies and accelerate the integration of offline and online. , Constantly optimizing the consumption experience is the magic weapon to win a steady stream of repeat customers.
——Looking at the environment, consumer services continued to improve.
"The old products have not been sent back, but the new ones have been delivered. Online shopping and replacement is really convenient." Recently, Ms. Song, a resident of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, ordered a pair of shoes for her 5-year-old daughter on an e-commerce platform, and received them to try on. After finding that the number was too small, I applied for "face-to-face exchange" on the online shopping page, and received new shoes from the courier the next day.
When the consumption environment is good, consumers are willing to consume.
On March 15, the "Supreme People's Court Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Online Consumption Dispute Cases (I)" was officially implemented, clarifying that e-commerce operators shall not claim that the seven-day no-reason return system should not be applied on the grounds that the products have been opened. , to protect consumers.
With the joint efforts of all parties, my country has made great progress in protecting consumers' rights and interests and creating a good consumption environment. Whether it is online or offline shopping, consumers are more confident.
Introduce more targeted measures to promote the continuous recovery of consumption
All localities and departments have introduced more targeted measures to promote consumption in light of the actual situation, to promote the continuous recovery of consumption, and to consolidate the fundamental role of consumption in economic development.
Chen Lifen said that the consumption demand of Chinese residents is upgrading from survival type to development type and quality type, from commodity consumption to service consumption and commodity consumption. Consumers' consumption concepts and behaviors are more in line with high-quality development. The demand for green consumption, healthy consumption and smart consumption has grown rapidly.
——Green consumption has gradually become a fashion.
"Old furniture that villagers used to look down on has now become a sought-after dessert in the market." said Liu Zhigang, a local resident specializing in the restoration of second-hand furniture in the Home Culture Industrial Park of Songlin Town, Linqing City, Shandong Province. Clearly feel the heating up of the market.
At the beginning of this year, the "Implementation Plan for Promoting Green Consumption" issued by 7 departments including the National Development and Reform Commission proposed to accelerate the improvement of the green level of food consumption, encourage the implementation of green clothing consumption, actively promote green residential consumption, vigorously develop green transportation consumption, and comprehensively promote green consumption. Consumption of supplies, and orderly guide green consumption in the fields of culture and tourism.
"These measures will further stimulate the potential of green consumption." Wang Yun said.
——More attention has been paid to healthy consumption.
Steam eye mask, neck warmer, waist warmer... In the past few days, the hot compress health products of Changzhou Xinjimi Biotechnology Co., Ltd. in Jiangsu Province have received new orders.
"More and more young people are beginning to pay attention to personal health." Wu Haibing, the founder of the company, said that in line with the trend of healthy consumption, the company is committed to developing innovative health-care consumer products, and using the digital supply chain platform to open up the market, orders have achieved rapid growth.
Wang Yun believes that my country's consumers' awareness of health management is increasing day by day, and the scope of healthy consumption is expanding and the connotation is more abundant.
Functionalization of daily food, personalized health monitoring and evaluation, household products with health functions... All kinds of health products and services will become new growth points.
——Intelligent products are favored.
In the first quarter, smart products became "stars" in major shopping malls.
The personalization and freshness brought by high technology have stimulated people's new demands.
Smartwatches with motion monitoring function achieved rapid growth in sales.
Somatosensory game consoles that can play games while exercising have also become popular.
Chen Lifen believes that as the impact of the epidemic is gradually brought under control, the employment priority policy will continue to exert its force, which will promote the improvement of residents' spending power and willingness to spend.
At the same time, a series of policies and measures to expand domestic demand and promote consumption have been gradually implemented and effective, and consumption will continue to maintain the momentum of recovery and development.
Our reporter Wang Ke Qi Zhiming Wang Jintao