China News Service, March 26: The State Council Information Office held a press conference on the 26th to introduce recent data and policies on production, consumption, import and export. Vice Minister of Commerce Guo Tingting said at the meeting that the trade-in of consumer goods such as cars and home appliances will be encouraged and promoted, new consumption such as green and digital will be cultivated and expanded, and innovative development of service consumption will be promoted.
Guo Tingting introduced that in the first two months, domestic and foreign trade operations were generally stable and the structure was optimized, making positive contributions to the continued recovery of the national economy.
Consumption showed a steady growth trend. The total retail sales of consumer goods in the first two months was 8.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%. From a structural perspective, commodity consumption has grown steadily. Among the 16 categories of retail sales of commodities above designated size, 14 categories achieved positive growth, 3 categories more than last December. Among them, the retail sales of communication equipment and automobiles increased by 16.2% and 8.7% respectively. Release the potential of service consumption. Service retail sales increased by 12.3%, of which catering revenue increased by 12.5%. In particular, the Spring Festival is very popular and consumption is booming. The total travel expenditure of domestic tourists increased by 7.7% on a comparable basis compared with 2019, and the movie box office hit a new high in the Spring Festival period. Online consumption is growing well. In the first two months, national online retail sales increased by 15.3%, of which online retail sales of physical goods increased by 14.4%, accounting for 22.4% of the total retail sales of consumer goods. The vitality of offline consumption has increased. The passenger flow and turnover of the 23 national pilot pedestrian streets increased by 16.0% and 7.0% respectively. The retail sales of specialized stores and convenience stores above designated size increased by 7.8% and 5.8% respectively.
Foreign trade achieved a solid start. In the first two months, the import and export of goods reached 6.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.7%, a record high for the same period in history, and the growth rate was about 7 percentage points faster than the fourth quarter of last year. Exports and imports increased by 10.3% and 6.7% respectively. From a structural perspective, trade with emerging markets has grown rapidly. Our imports and exports to countries jointly building the “Belt and Road” increased by 9.0%. Exports to the United States and the European Union increased by 8.1% and 1.6% respectively. Some key products are faster than the whole. Exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 11.8%, of which integrated circuits and automobiles increased by 28.6% and 15.8% respectively. Exports of labor-intensive products increased by 22.2%. The proportion of private enterprises increased. The import and export of private enterprises increased by 17.7%, and their proportion in total foreign trade increased by 4.2 percentage points compared with the same period last year, reaching 54.6%, becoming the main force in foreign trade development.
Guo Tingting emphasized that in the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will follow the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, focus on promoting stable growth in consumption, and promote the quality and quantity of foreign trade. In terms of consumption, we will encourage and promote the replacement of old consumer goods such as cars and home appliances with new ones, cultivate and expand new types of consumption such as green and digital, and promote the innovative development of service consumption. In terms of foreign trade, comprehensive policies will be implemented to support enterprises in exploring diversified markets and promote the healthy development of new business formats such as cross-border e-commerce. At the same time, we will actively expand the import of high-quality products, successfully host key exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo and the Canton Fair, and promote the high-quality development of foreign trade.