The national consumer market is operating smoothly and orderly before the holiday (Rui Finance)
As the Spring Festival approaches, how is the consumer market performing? Next, how to ensure supply, stabilize prices, and promote consumption? At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on February 6, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce stated that the national consumer market has been recently supplied with sufficient supply, prices are stable, and sales are strong. The holiday consumption needs of urban and rural residents are guaranteed, and the national consumer market is operating smoothly before the holiday. Orderly.
Online consumption will get off to a good start in 2024
Sheng Qiuping, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced at the meeting that in 2023, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to organize a series of "Consumption Boost Year" activities, introduce policies and measures to promote automobile and household consumption, and promote the continued recovery of consumption: Social consumer goods throughout the year Total retail sales were 47.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%; service retail sales increased by 20%, and catering revenue exceeded 5 trillion yuan for the first time, an increase of 20.4%; consumption contributed 82.5% to economic growth, and continued to play a fundamental role in economic development Enhance.
At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce strives to improve the urban and rural commercial system, improve the circulation network, and deepen the cultivation and construction of international consumption center cities. The international influence, consumption driving force, and central radiation of relevant cities have been continuously enhanced; 19 national model pedestrian streets and 12 national model smart cities have been identified In the business district, 3,476 quarter-hour convenient living areas were built, involving 780,000 commercial outlets, serving more than 64 million community residents; the three-year county commercial action was implemented, and rural consumer goods retail sales increased by 8%, and rural online retail sales increased by 12.5%.
In order to comply with the new trend of residents' consumption development, the Ministry of Commerce supports the development of various new business formats, new models, and new scenarios by promoting online consumption and green, smart, and healthy consumption. In 2023, the country's online retail sales will be 15.4 trillion yuan, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years; online retail sales of physical goods will increase by 8.4%, accounting for 27.6% of total retail sales. Sales of new energy vehicles increased by 37.9%, accounting for 31.6% of total vehicle sales.
Xu Xingfeng, director of the Department of Market Operation and Consumption Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce, said that in January this year, the commerce department launched the one-month "National Online New Year Shopping Festival" based on the characteristics of Spring Festival consumption. More than 300 supporting activities have been organized around the three new consumption areas of digital, green and health. As of now, online retail sales are close to 800 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 9% compared with the same period last year, achieving a "good start" for online consumption in 2024.
Increased holiday market supply
As the Spring Festival approaches, how is the national consumer market performing? Sheng Qiuping introduced that business big data monitoring showed that the national consumer market operated smoothly and orderly before the holiday, showing sufficient supply, stable prices, and strong sales.
Sufficient supply - Large-scale agricultural and sideline products wholesale markets in various places have sufficient stocks of daily necessities such as grain, oil, meat, eggs, milk, fruits, and vegetables. The stocks of daily necessities in key wholesale markets and supermarkets have increased by 10% to 30% compared with usual. Major e-commerce platforms will continue to provide delivery services during the Spring Festival.
Stable prices - On February 5, the average wholesale prices of grain, edible oil, beef and mutton in hundreds of large agricultural and sideline products wholesale markets across the country were basically the same as at the beginning of the month. The prices of pork and eggs increased by 2.1% and 0.7% respectively, and vegetable prices showed seasonal increases. .
Sales are booming - major shopping malls, supermarkets, and online platforms are all experiencing sales peaks. In late January, the Ministry of Commerce monitored retail companies’ sales growth by 19.9% month-on-month. In January, the sales volume of key monitoring e-commerce platforms increased by 20% year-on-year.
This year’s Spring Festival holiday is longer than in previous years, and the number of trips is expected to hit a new high. Coupled with the recent widespread rain and snow weather across the country, how to ensure that the market for daily necessities is “stable, online is smooth, and orders are sufficient”?
In order to strengthen the organization of supply sources, commercial and circulation companies in various regions have expanded purchasing channels, increased the frequency of replenishment and put on shelves, and appropriately extended business hours. Many wholesale markets in Shanghai are not closed during the holidays. More than 700 stores of 18 major supermarket chains in Beijing will operate normally during the Spring Festival. Guangzhou has guided key supply companies to increase inventory by 2-3 times the usual amount of some hot-selling products. In addition, in order to cope with abnormal weather, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and other places will release about 3,100 tons of meat reserves, 70,000 tons of vegetables, and 500 tons of eggs before and after the Spring Festival to increase the supply to the festival market. "Recently, the purchase, sale and inventory of key supply-guaranteed enterprises across the country have increased steadily, which can ensure the holiday consumption needs of urban and rural residents." Sheng Qiuping said.
Stimulate consumption with potential
Sheng Qiuping said that in 2024, the Ministry of Commerce will use the "Consumption Promotion Year" as the main theme, continue to organize a series of consumption promotion activities, and introduce highly targeted policies and measures to stimulate potential consumption.
Stabilize and expand traditional consumption - open up cycle blockages and promote the trade-in of old cars for new ones; deepen the reform of automobile circulation and consumption, continue to promote the transformation of automobiles from purchase management to usage management, and promote the high-quality development of the automobile aftermarket. Focus on key directions such as green, smart, and suitable for the elderly, develop smart homes, and encourage renovation and partial renovation of old houses. We will continue to carry out the trade-in of old home appliances for new ones, improve the recycling system of used home appliances, and implement actions to improve after-sales service for home appliances.
Cultivate and expand new consumption - develop digital consumption, green consumption, healthy consumption, and cultivate new consumption growth points such as smart homes and domestic trendy products: implement digital consumption promotion actions and promote cross-border e-commerce to deepen pilot projects; continue to promote new energy vehicles, Green smart home appliances are brought to the countryside, and the experiences and practices of local governments and enterprises in promoting sustainable consumption are summarized and promoted.
Expand service consumption - implement actions to improve the quality and quantity of service consumption, and hold activities such as the "Service Consumption Season" and "Chinese Food Gathering"; accelerate the digital empowerment of life services, promote the improvement and expansion of domestic services, and carry out the "Life Service Recruitment Season" activities , implement the skill upgrading action of domestic workers.
Optimize the consumption environment - accelerate the cultivation and construction of international consumption center cities, support relevant cities to strengthen institutional reform and innovation, and expand high-level opening up. Improve the urban commercial system led by pedestrian streets, supported by smart business districts, and based on convenient living areas, thoroughly implement the three-year county commercial action, accelerate the completion of rural circulation infrastructure and service shortcomings, and continue to release urban and rural consumption potential. (People's Daily Overseas Edition)