On June 18, the person in charge of the Department of Commerce's Consumption Promotion Department introduced the operation of China's consumer market from January to May 2020.
The person in charge of the Department of Commerce's Consumption Promotion Department pointed out that with the accelerated resumption of business and market operations by domestic enterprises, the order of residents' lives has been significantly restored. In particular, a series of measures to expand domestic demand and promote consumption have gradually taken effect. In May, China's consumer market continued its recovery trend, with market sales narrowing for three consecutive months. From January to May, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 13.87 trillion yuan, down 13.5% year-on-year. The main characteristics are as follows:
First, the consumer market is steadily recovering. In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods nationwide reached 3.2 trillion yuan, down 2.8% year-on-year, narrowing by 4.7 percentage points compared to April. From January to May, the year-on-year decline in the total retail sales of consumer goods narrowed by 2.7 percentage points compared to the period from January to April, and by 5.5 percentage points compared to the first quarter. Second, commodity sales are steadily rising. In May, the national commodity retail sales totaled 2.9 trillion yuan, down 0.8% year-on-year, a decrease of 3.8 percentage points compared to the previous month. Among the commodity sales of limited-above units, nearly 80% of the commodity sales have returned to positive growth. Food and beverage sales increased by 11.4% and 16.7% year-on-year respectively. Automobile sales increased by 3.5% year-on-year, the highest growth rate since June 2019; cosmetics, sports and entertainment goods, and communication equipment sales increased by 12.9%, 15.4% and 11.4% year-on-year respectively, with growth rates accelerating by 9.4, 3.8 and 2.2 percentage points respectively compared to the previous month. Sales of home appliances, furniture, and building materials have turned positive, increasing by 4.3%, 3.0%, and 1.9% year-on-year respectively. From January to May, the national commodity retail sales reached 12.74 trillion yuan, down 10.6% year-on-year, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points compared to the period from January to April. Third, service consumption is gradually recovering. In May, the national wholesale and retail business activity index remained above the prosperity line for three consecutive months, the catering business activity index remained above the prosperity line for two consecutive months, and the accommodation business activity index rose above the prosperity line for the first time since February. From January to May, the national catering revenue decreased by 36.5% year-on-year, narrowing by 4.7 percentage points compared to the period from January to April. Fourth, online consumption is growing rapidly. From January to May, the national online retail sales of physical goods reached 3.37 trillion yuan, up 11.5% year-on-year, an increase of 2.9 percentage points compared to the period from January to April; accounting for 24.3% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, an increase of 0.2 and 5.4 percentage points compared to the period from January to April and the same period last year respectively. The national online retail sales reached 4.02 trillion yuan, up 4.5% year-on-year, an increase of 2.8 percentage points compared to the period from January to April. Fifth, the price increase is steadily declining. In May, the national consumer price index rose by 2.4% year-on-year, down 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous month. From January to May, the national consumer price index rose by 4.1% year-on-year, down 0.4 percentage points compared to the period from January to April. Among them, consumer goods and service prices rose by 6.0% and 1.0% year-on-year respectively, with growth rates declining by 0.6 percentage points and remaining flat respectively. Pork prices rose by 109.1% year-on-year, down 6.9 percentage points compared to the period from January to April.
The person in charge of the Department of Commerce's Consumption Promotion Department stated that since March, China's consumer market has continued to warm up month by month, indicating that with the phased achievements in China's epidemic prevention and control, the production and living order has been further restored, and China's consumer market has shown strong resilience. However, at the same time, the year-on-year decline in operating income in the catering and accommodation industries is relatively large, indicating that the full recovery of the consumer market still faces certain pressures. Next, while ensuring normalized epidemic prevention and control, we need to increase the intensity of policies and measures to stabilize enterprises and alleviate difficulties, stabilize consumer confidence and expectations, and promote the sustained and steady rise of the consumer market.
