Customers browse gold jewelries inside a shopping mall in Beijing on December 29,2024. In the first 11 months, retail sales of consumer goods totaled nearly 44.3 trillion yuan ($6.07 trillion), up 3.5 percent year-on-year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Photo: VCG

China's retail sales reached 4.094 trillion yuan ($557 billion) in March, up 5.9 percent year-on-year. Excluding automobiles, retail sales totaled 3.661 trillion yuan, up 6 percent, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Wednesday.

Consumption is not only vital to people's livelihoods but also a key driver of economic growth. Both the Central Economic Work Conference held last December and the Government Work Report released in March identified boosting consumption and expanding domestic demand on all fronts as top priorities for this year's economic agenda. Judging from implementation so far, they are continuing to take effect, with clear and tangible results, Sheng Laiyun, deputy head of the NBS, told a press conference on Wednesday.

The consumer market is steadily rebounding. In the first quarter, retail sales reached 12.5 trillion yuan, up 4.6 percent year-on-year - 1.1 percentage points higher than the growth rate for the whole of last year. The recovery has been building month by month. In March alone, retail sales grew by 5.9 percent, accelerating by 1.9 percentage points from the January-February period, according to the NBS.

Retail sales of physical goods grew at a relatively fast pace, supported by policies advancing major national projects and programs, including those aligned with major national strategies such as building up security capacity in key areas, as well as the large-scale renewal of equipment and trade-ins of consumer goods. Sales of related consumer goods maintained double-digit growth, indicating a continuous improvement in market conditions, Sheng said.


According to the Government Work Report, ultra-long special treasury bonds totaling 300 billion yuan will be issued to support consumer goods trade-in programs.

Services consumption also grew at an accelerated pace. In the first quarter, retail sales of services rose by 5 percent year-on-year, 0.4 percentage points faster than retail sales of goods. "Services consumption will play a vital role in driving future consumption growth, offering considerable potential and ample space for expansion," Sheng said.

New consumption drivers continue to emerge. As big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly applied, new consumption scenarios are being steadily developed and expanded. Examples include livestreaming e-commerce, instant retail, the "night economy," digital consumption and AI-powered gaming, Sheng noted.

Among the first-quarter statistics, the standout was the March consumption figure. Even more notable was the performance of services consumption, Tian Yun, a veteran economist, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

If this trend continues, achieving about 5 percent GDP growth for the year should be well within reach, Tian said, noting that even factoring in potential headwinds from foreign trade, a social consumption growth rate above 5 percent, combined with a reasonable increase in government consumption, would be sufficient to support China in meeting its annual growth target.

The Ministry of Commerce, together with eight other departments, jointly released the 2025 Action Plan for Enhancing the Quality and Benefits of Service Consumption, outlining 48 specific tasks and measures, according to a statement the ministry released on Wednesday.

Consumption is closely tied to income. To boost consumption, efforts must focus on significantly improving people's purchasing power. "Moving forward, we will actively promote stable employment, raise incomes and continuously unlock consumption potential," Sheng said.

With a population of more than 1.4 billion and a massive market, China is now at a crucial stage of consumption upgrading, with per capita GDP exceeding $13,000. The economy holds strong growth potential, offering significant room for both investment and consumption - key drivers that will continue to support China's sustained economic development, Sheng said.

Global Times