People row dragon boats during a cultural event to celebrate the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival in Putian, southeast China's Fujian Province, June 13, 2023. A series of cultural events is going to be held in Putian to celebrate the traditional Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 22 this year.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
With the traditional Dragon Boat Festival approaching, domestic consumption during the three-day Chinese holidays from Thursday to Saturday is expected to gain pace from previous holidays and shopping festivals.

The anticipated booming market demand for festival themed products and services will accelerate consumption recovery in China, experts said.

A special cake made by Daoxiangcun, dedicated to the Dragon Boat Festival has been sold out, a staff worker from a Daoxiangcun store, a delicacy maker in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The sales for zongzi, a traditional Chinese rice dumpling and an iconic food for the festival, are surging amid the rising market demand. For instance, around 400 to 500 zongzi have been sold every day recently at a supermarket in Beijing, comparing with the normal sales volume of 200 per day, China Securities Journal reported. 

While traditional food remains a focal point for the festival, many consumers start to take the opportunity to experience new activities. 

An after-sale service person from Taobao told the Global Times on Tuesday that the orders of the shop's DIY pack for making perfume pouches, which are worn for blessing, are growing. The monthly orders for the DIY pack have exceeded 3,000 as of press time. 

Meanwhile, cities well known for "dragon boat racing" such as Foshan in South China's Guangdong Province have attracted a large number of tourists from other provinces and regions, the paper.cn reported earlier, citing data from domestic travel platform Mafengwo.com. 


Domestic consumption during the festival will likely ramp up, as the festival closely follows the May Day holidays and the "618" online shopping festival, while the shopping spree for traditional products and services will fire up consumption recovery, Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Institute told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Zhang said that the sustained momentum in retail sales will shore up China's economic growth this year. 

The market demand for festival products and services will help boost the economy while provide more jobs, Pan Helin, joint director of the Research Center for Digital Economics and Financial Innovation affiliated with Zhejiang University's International Business School, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Chinese policymakers have been stepping up efforts to propel the recovery of domestic consumption, said the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner.