The ＂May 1st＂ consumer market witnessed the endogenous power of China’s economy.

The number of domestic tourists increased by 70.83% year on year, and the sales of key retail and catering enterprises increased by 18.9%.
The "May 1st" consumer market witnessed the endogenous power of China’s economy.

Holiday consumption is a window to observe economic vitality.

During this "May Day" holiday, people’s willingness to travel is strong, consumption enthusiasm is high, and the consumer market is booming.

"It is expected that there will be more tourists, but I didn’t expect so many!" Xin Li, the person in charge of a hotel near Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan Province, said that half a month before the holiday, all the rooms were reserved during the holiday.

"The dining hall is full every day, and you need to queue up at the peak of the meal." Lu Jun, a staff member of a restaurant in Chaoyang Joy City Shopping Mall, Chaoyang District, Beijing, said that the number of customers received during the May Day holiday increased significantly.

Sales of seasonal, quality and upgraded goods are booming, consumption of featured, diversified and experiential services is widely favored, and new consumption of innovation, wisdom and convenience is hot … During the May 1 holiday, the consumer market grew in all directions.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the May 1 holiday, the number of domestic tourists increased by 70.83% year-on-year, and the domestic tourism revenue increased by 128.90% year-on-year. Sales of key retail and catering enterprises nationwide increased by 18.9% year-on-year.

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting on April 28th, stressing that "taking advantage of the situation, promoting the economy to achieve effective improvement in quality and reasonable growth in quantity", "restoring and expanding demand is the key to the current sustained economic recovery" and "increasing the income of urban and rural residents through multiple channels, improving the consumption environment and promoting the consumption of cultural tourism and other services".

The bright report card of the "May 1" holiday consumer market reflects the vigorous vitality and great potential of China’s consumer market, and also bears witness to the strong endogenous power of China’s economy.

Sales are hot, and the consumer market has achieved rapid growth.

On May 2nd, the weather was fine. Shan Ye Campsite in Yemai, Zhaitang Town, Mentougou District, Beijing, was filled with laughter and laughter.

"It is very interesting to bring children close to nature and to meet and chat with friends." Zhang Jia, a tourist who came to camp more than two hours by car from Chaoyang District, said. Standing on the lawn of the campsite, the distant mountains are vast and undulating, and the white clouds are lingering, like an ink painting.

The total number of tourists received was 9.128 million, an increase of 198.2% year-on-year, and an increase of 6.6% according to the comparable diameter compared with 2019; The total tourism revenue reached 13.46 billion yuan, up by 752.3% year-on-year, up by 13.9% compared with 2019 according to the comparable diameter … During the May Day holiday, Beijing’s cultural tourism consumption recovered strongly, and both tourism revenue and the number of people exceeded the same period in 2019.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce, during the May 1 holiday, the national sales of petroleum products and automobiles increased by 24.4% and 20.9% respectively. Sales of clothing and cosmetics increased by 18.4% and 16.5% respectively. Sales of communication equipment increased by 20.1% year-on-year; Home appliance sales increased by 13.9% year-on-year. The passenger flow and turnover of national demonstration pedestrian streets increased by 121.4% and 87.6% respectively. The consumption of catering and leisure continued to be hot, and the sales of key catering enterprises increased by 57.9% year-on-year.

According to the data center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the "May 1" holiday, the total number of domestic tourism trips nationwide was 274 million, which was restored to 119.09% in the same period of 2019 according to comparable caliber; The domestic tourism revenue was 148.056 billion yuan, which was restored to 100.66% in the same period of 2019 according to comparable caliber.

Since the beginning of this year, with the effectiveness of a series of policies to promote consumption, consumption scenarios have been continuously expanded and consumption expectations have been continuously improved, which has led to a marked rebound in market sales, a steady improvement in service consumption, and an overall recovery in consumption.

Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that consumption growth rebounded significantly in the first quarter. The total retail sales of social consumer goods was 11,492.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. According to the location of business units, the retail sales of urban consumer goods was 9,966.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%; The retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 1,525.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%.

"In the first quarter of this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 5.8% year-on-year, which was significantly higher than that in the fourth quarter of last year; In March, the total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 10.6% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 7.1 percentage points faster than that in January-February. All these indicate that consumption is gradually picking up and improving. " Hong Yong, an associate researcher at the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said.

"There are many factors for the recovery of consumption." Hong Yong believes that the policies to promote consumption have been introduced one after another, and the employment situation is generally stable, laying a solid foundation for the steady recovery of residents’ income and consumption. In the first quarter, the per capita disposable income of the national residents was 10,870 yuan, a nominal increase of 5.1% over the same period of last year, and a real increase of 3.8% after deducting the price factor, which was 0.1 and 0.9 percentage points faster than that of the whole year of last year respectively.

The pulling effect of consumption on economic growth has been significantly enhanced. In the first quarter, the contribution rate of final consumption to economic growth reached 66.6%, which was significantly higher than that of last year, and it was the most important factor driving economic growth among the three major demands.

Supply innovation, new scenes and new models are accelerating.

During the May Day holiday, we entered Chongqing Liangjiang International Film and Television City, and a large-scale night live performance was being staged. Tourists dressed in traditional costumes felt the charm of "Bayu Culture". "Now, many scenic spots can not only see, play and eat, but also immerse themselves in local history and culture, making the tourism experience richer and more stereoscopic." Tourist Sun Wei said.

In the downtown area of Tianjin, during the "May Day" holiday, visitors can feel the new vitality of historical buildings in a series of cultural and artistic activities. "Drinking a cup of coffee in the old building has a very good atmosphere." Tourist Ma Bing said.

From physical goods to life services, from online shopping to offline shopping malls, this "May 1" holiday, new scenes and new experiences emerged in the consumer market, which stimulated people’s new willingness to consume and injected new vitality into the consumer market.

Smart travel makes traveling more convenient. At 9: 00 a.m. on April 29th, more than 5,000 tourists entered the mountain pass in Tianwai Village, Taishan Scenic Area. As of 12 noon on the same day, Taishan Scenic Area had received 23,000 tourists, an increase of 151% over 2019. In order to better protect the tourist experience, Taishan Scenic Area and Meituan realize limited time-limited booking of tickets and booking tours in key areas, and guide tourists to enter the park and visit the peak at different times. As of noon on April 29, the number of ticket orders for Meituan platform attractions doubled compared with the first day of the 2019 holiday.

Upgrading products has become a new hot spot in sales. On the evening of April 29th, the 2023 International Consumer Season and the 4th Shanghai "May 5th Shopping Festival" were officially launched. At Wujiaochang Store in Suning.cn, Yangpu District, Shanghai, consumers who come to buy home appliances are in an endless stream. "A green smart home appliance can subsidize 1000 yuan at most, which is very affordable." Consumer Guo Yue booked three air conditioners in one breath. During the May Day holiday, the passenger flow of stores nationwide in Suning.cn increased by 23% year-on-year, the sales of green and energy-saving household appliances increased by 56% year-on-year, the sales of smart household appliances increased by 73% year-on-year, and the purchase orders of stores above 50,000 yuan increased by 65% year-on-year.

"Holiday consumption shows an obvious upgrading trend, and new scenes and new models are constantly emerging, which has become a microcosm of the personalized and diversified upgrading of consumer demand in China." Zhang Jixing, deputy director of the market research department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that at present, China’s consumer market is showing a trend of recovery, and the characteristics of strong consumption resilience, great potential and full vitality have not changed. The fundamentals of long-term improvement of consumption development have not changed, and the general trend of upgrading consumption has not changed. Relevant enterprises will increase the supply of high-quality products and services, drive the comprehensive recovery of related service industries and consumer markets, and help upgrade consumption.

Policy strength, continuous expansion of domestic demand has stamina.

During the May 1 holiday, in the face of strong consumer demand, the government set up a platform and made policy efforts. Under the background of "year of boosting consumption", all localities made great efforts to promote creativity in tourism promotion and benefit in commodity promotion, and jointly promoted the rapid recovery of the consumer market.

During the "May 1" holiday, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched the "May 19 China Tourism Day" theme month, and launched various cultural and tourism public welfare measures to benefit the people. In combination with the theme month activities, all localities will reduce or discount tickets for scenic spots and issue coupons for cultural and tourism consumption.

On May 3rd, the South Street business circle in the center of Nantong, Jiangsu Province was bustling with tourists. Dining, shopping, leisure … A commercial street with a variety of formats has attracted a large number of consumers to experience. Jiangsu launched the "Su Xin Consumption Summer Night Life" summer shopping festival, and distributed 170 million yuan Huimin consumption coupons and 55 million yuan digital RMB red envelopes.

Tickets for the 25th of each month are half-price, tourists over the age of 25 are half-price, and land and water play at night to grab fresh tickets … During the May Day holiday, a series of preferential measures for benefiting the people in shenzhen happy valley are deeply loved by tourists. "This year’s’ May 1′ holiday, shenzhen happy valley set a new record for the highest reception in a single day." According to the relevant person in charge of shenzhen happy valley, the "May Day" holiday in shenzhen happy valley received more than 150,000 tourists, setting a record high in the same period in the 25 years since the opening of the park, with an increase of 70% compared with 2019.

Chongqing held the eighth Chongqing cultural tourism consumption season for the benefit of the people, and joined hands with the platform to issue cultural and tourism coupons; Zibo, Shandong Province, runs a barbecue train and provides free parking to attract tourists; Beijing Badaling Great Wall Scenic Area opens the park ahead of schedule and opens the Great Wall at night regularly to meet the peak of passenger flow; In Shanghai, services such as charging treasure at punch-in points, delayed closing of rail transit and so on have been launched … Warm-hearted measures in various places have made tourists feel the beauty of traveling and stimulated the potential of the consumer market.

Hong Yong believes that the "May Day" holiday is an important node of annual consumption. Generate’s strong consumption enthusiasm during the holiday fully demonstrates the confidence of the current consumer market, and is also conducive to the continuous expansion of domestic demand throughout the year.

"As can be seen from the consumption during the May 1 holiday, the rebound of residents’ consumption tendency means that the expectation of consumption recovery will continue to improve. Considering all factors, the role of consumption as the’ main engine’ of economic growth is expected to be further enhanced. " Zhang Jixing believes that on the one hand, employment has gradually improved, and the national urban survey unemployment rate dropped significantly in March, which is conducive to increasing residents’ income and enhancing residents’ spending power; On the other hand, new consumption scenarios and new models are constantly emerging, which is conducive to stimulating new consumption willingness. In the first quarter, the average consumption tendency of the national residents was 62%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points over the same period of last year. From the perspective of medium and long-term development, China is in the stage of rapid upgrading of consumption, and the consumption prospect is promising for a long time.

This year is the first year to fully implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress. Only by firmly grasping the strategic base point of expanding domestic demand, establishing and perfecting a long-term mechanism to expand residents’ consumption, and constantly releasing the consumption potential contained in China’s big market, can we take advantage of the situation and promote the effective improvement of quality and reasonable growth of the economy. (Reporter Du Haitao Kelly)