The holiday shopping boom in China has been prolonged and has grown stronger at the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit, as people celebrate the end of the epidemic and the promising growth of the domestic economy.
During the Lantern Festival, which fell on Sunday this year, spending was stronger than expected, with Chinese residents generously spending money not only on goods related to this festival but also on eating out, tourism, and other entertainment activities. Tourism sites were crowded with people, with long queues at restaurants.
A lantern maker in Zhejiang Province reported that their sales were much stronger than last year, with over 100,000 lanterns sold in January, mostly themed as rabbits or moons. A Beijing-based online vendor selling sweet dumplings also reported a sales boom that started a week ahead of the festival and was much stronger than last year.
Data collected by multiple e-commerce websites showed that consumption during this year’s Lantern Festival holiday was particularly high. Searches for “yuanxiao” on Tmall Supermarket surged by 150 percent in the past week compared to the previous week, while sales of the food also surged three times compared to last year.
Meituan showed that sales volumes of lanterns surged by 130 percent compared to the previous year, while ticket reservations for tourism spots related to Lantern Festival keywords like lantern show surged by around 380 percent in the recent week.
The holiday consumption boom is a natural phenomenon, according to Li Changan, a professor from the University of International Business and Economics, and is a result of the country’s efforts to recover after three years of the epidemic, which curbed market demand.
An analyst from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics predicted that China’s consumption revenues could grow by about 8 percent this year, compared to a 0.2 percent drop in 2022. The consumption boom is a positive sign of a sound economic recovery in China this year.
You must be logged in to post a comment.