Food and beverage consumption "adds another fire" China's economy "to a new level"

Guangming Network News (Reporter Zhang Shiqi Liu Hanxu) Just past the May Day holiday, by the Liangma River in Beijing, people came to the front of the special restaurant in Blue Harbor early to form a long queue; In Shenyang's major night markets, there is an endless stream of tourists who come to taste special delicacies such as chicken racks and cold noodles; After the "Zibo BBQ" fire came out of the circle, barbecue sales in other Shandong cities such as Rizhao, Weihai, Yantai and other Shandong cities increased several times compared with before the holiday...

In eating and drinking, people's long-accumulated "taste buds" demand is released in a concentrated manner; In the midst of laughter, food adds a layer of happiness and satisfaction to people's holiday life. The scene of the recovery of consumption in the catering market in various places not only makes this "May Day" a "Golden Week" in the true sense, but also releases a positive signal that China's economy continues to improve.

Data testimony "Taste bud tourism" adds another fire to cultural tourism consumption

Monitoring data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that the sales of key retail and catering enterprises in the country during this year's "May Day" holiday increased by 18.9% year-on-year, of which catering and leisure consumption continued to be hot, and the sales of key catering enterprises increased by 57.9% year-on-year. From all over the place, whether it is the crowd in front of the restaurant, the pace of the store waiter trotting to welcome customers, or the bright lights of the city at night, it is a direct reflection of this set of data.

At the Gulou Makai Restaurant on Di'anmen Outer Street in Beijing, sales here increased by about 7% year-on-year during the holiday, and 1200 stir-fry chefs in the hot kitchen room drove full "horsepower" to leave delicious memories for tourists coming to Beijing; Located in Guangzhou Grandview Plaza, Chef Fei's chili fried meat in Guangzhou's first restaurant turnover rate reached 12% during the holiday, from opening to closing, 16 consecutive hours of "popularity"; As the "aroma" of barbecue brought fire to Zibo, a new popular tourist city, during the "May Day" period, the number of people received in Zibo's eight major markets exceeded <>,<> in one day, setting a new record in recent years.

More and more small and medium-sized cities are becoming popular travel destinations with their food. For example, Liuzhou, the popularity of tourists during this year's May Day holiday increased by 2019% compared with the same period in 650, Lingshui increased by 480%, and Shantou increased by 350%.

At the same time, the takeaway crowd also participated in this "taste bud tour" "remotely" during the "May Day" period. The data shows that the number of nighttime Ele.me orders (22-24 points) of non-local tourists doubled month-on-month, and the barbecue with the highest sales volume increased by nearly 2 times month-on-month; The number of local special night snacks such as sand tea noodles, chutney powder, crayfish, intestine flour, and hot and dry noodles also increased by more than 1.5 times; Meituan data shows that in the first three days of the holiday, the scale of national catering consumption increased by 2019% compared with 92.

In fact, the popularity of the catering industry during the May Day holiday is not an accident. Since the beginning of this year, the catering industry has shown a recovery momentum, with catering revenue increasing by 13.9% in the first quarter, and the catering consumer market has accelerated its recovery. According to the relevant report of the China Cuisine Association, the catering industry has the characteristics of rigid demand and social attributes, and has always been the main force of the consumer market. The "early entry into summer" of the catering market not only adds another fire to cultural tourism consumption, but also makes important contributions to expanding domestic demand and promoting the formation of a strong domestic market.

Zhang Jixing, deputy director of the market research department of the Research Institute of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that it can be seen from the "May Day" holiday consumption that residents' consumption tendency has rebounded, which means that the expectation of consumption recovery will continue to improve. From the perspective of various factors, the role of consumption as the "main engine" of economic growth is expected to be further enhanced.

Policy blessing, consumer market multiple measures to promote the city's "return of fireworks"

The 2022 Central Economic Work Conference pointed out that the recovery and expansion of consumption should be given priority. This year's government work report further clarified that it is necessary to stabilize mass consumption such as automobiles and promote the recovery of consumption of life services such as catering, culture, tourism, and sports. This "May Day", people's willingness to travel together to enjoy "food" is high, and it is inseparable from the new "tricks" in various places to encourage catering consumption, and use down-to-earth policy measures to really promote the "return of fireworks".

In Luoyang, Henan, Xigong Small Street and other business districts organized the "Hanfu Food Festival", and held festival special services such as wearing Hanfu on May Day and putting "prices"; Jiangsu launched the "Suxin Consumption, Summer Nightlife" summer shopping festival activity, distributing 1 million yuan of Huimin consumption coupons and 7 million yuan of digital red envelopes; Shandong Zibo opened a barbecue train and provided free parking services to attract tourists...

In the face of strong consumer demand, the government set up the stage and the policy force, all localities riveted vigorously, using gastronomic creativity to promote the city, with warm service to retain popularity, merchants are varied, diners are endless, and the fireworks on the streets and alleys accelerated to pick up during the "May Day" holiday. Yang Liu, president of the China Cuisine Association, said that while promoting consumption and innovating scenarios, catering enterprises should also pay attention to issues such as food safety, clear pricing, and anti-waste, and take precautions to jointly promote the continuous recovery of the catering economy.

According to a survey by the China Cuisine Association, the passenger flow of this year's "May Day" holiday increased by 211% year-on-year, and the operating income of the interviewed companies in the first four days increased by 2019% compared with the "May Day" in 26. Lively night markets, jubilant performances, sumptuous food, new experiences, new scenes, and new formats emerge one after another, and the new vitality of catering and cultural tourism consumption is increasingly driving the strong growth of China's consumption.

Hong Yong, an associate researcher at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, believes that the "May Day" holiday is an important node for consumption throughout the year. The strong consumption enthusiasm bursting out during the holiday fully demonstrates the confidence of the current consumer market and is also conducive to the continuous expansion of domestic demand throughout the year.

A good start, China's economy is accelerating, "shape", stability, and "momentum" are rising, showing "full confidence"

Holiday spending is a window into economic vitality. The hot pyrotechnics are back, and the confidence of economic recovery is back. The continuous expansion of consumption scenarios and the gradual expansion of domestic demand have significantly improved residents' consumption expectations, and driven the expansion of market sales and the recovery of service consumption.

Guo Liyan, director of the Comprehensive Situation Research Office of the China Macroeconomic Research Institute, said: "Since the steady turn of epidemic prevention and control, the contact-based service industry and agglomeration consumption have rebounded significantly, providing basic support for 'stable opening'. ”

Since the beginning of this year, stable growth, expansion of domestic demand, and strong confidence have become the keywords for accelerating development in various places. China's regional economic operation accelerated to pick up, the momentum of strengthening stamina has gradually become prominent, production demand has stabilized and rebounded, employment prices are generally stable, residents' income continues to increase, market expectations have improved significantly, and economic operation has started well.

Up to now, the "first quarterly report" of 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China has all been released. Among them, 23 provinces outperformed the average growth rate of 4.5% of national GDP in the first quarter, and many provinces' GDP growth rate has exceeded the annual economic growth target set at the beginning of the year.

At the same time, the economic operation of enterprises is also showing a "good start" with outstanding performance in the stable and good recovery trend. National Energy Group's power generation in the first quarter was 2880 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 5.1%; The total amount of new contracts signed by China Railway in the first quarter increased by 10.2% year-on-year; Sinopec's total refined oil sales volume in the first quarter was 5616.10 million tons, an increase of 1.<>% year-on-year. "Judging from the operation of central enterprises in the first quarter, many central enterprises focused on expanding effective investment, accelerating the construction of major projects, and playing a positive role in promoting economic recovery." Zhou Lisha, research director of the China Modern State-Owned Enterprise Research Institute at Tsinghua University, said.

"A good beginning, an increase in qi is good for the end." Behind the data is the strong resilience of China's economy in the face of a severe and complex international environment and arduous tasks of domestic reform, development and stability. Chen Fengying, former director of the Institute of World Economy of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, stressed that China contributes positive energy to the world economy. "In the face of the uncertainty and instability of the world economy, China has always been the 'anchor' of stability and has made important contributions to the world economy."

Under the general tone of adhering to the work of seeking progress while maintaining stability, China's economy has shown a recovery trend, fully demonstrating the huge potential of China's ultra-large-scale market, and also indicating that the long-term good fundamentals of China's economy will not change, and China's economy is accelerating to recover "shape" stability and "momentum" full of confidence. (Guangming Network)