According to the statistics of the State Statistics Bureau, the total retail sales amount of consumer goods in January-September amounted to 27.4 trillion yuan, up 9.3% year on year. Among these, that in September was up 9.2% year on year, 0.2 percentage points higher than that of August. The final consumption expenditure in the first three quarters contributed 78% to economic growth, 14 percentage points higher than that of the same period of time last year.

The head of Department of Market Operation and Consumption Promotion pointed out that the consumption market operation remained stable with its structure being further upgraded and the consumption’s fundamental role for economic growth was further consolidated. The main features in the first three quarters were what follows:

1. The sales of quality goods were booming. Fashion quality, green and smart upgraded goods were popular. In January-September, sales of daily commodities, communication equipment, clothing and gold and silver jewelry above the designated size increased by 13.4%, 10.7%, 8.9% and 8.7% respectively year on year, faster than those of the same period last year by 5, 1.4, 1.7 and 1.8 percentage points respectively. Among these, the sales of communication equipment increased by 16.9% year on year in September, 13.1 percentage points faster than those of the same period of time last year. . Among the sales of key retail enterprises monitored by MOFCOM, the growth rates of the sales of side-by-side refrigerator, platen washing machine and ultra high definition television were 9.8, 6.3 and 2.9 percentage points higher than those of refrigerator, washing machine and television respectively in the first half of 2018.

2. There were more higher-quality and more diversified services consumption. In the first three quarters, the proportion of services consumption reached 52.6%, 0.2 percentage points higher than that of the same period of time last year over. The revenue of national catering industry reached 2976.3 billion yuan, up 9.8% year on year, with its growth rate higher than the goods retails. The box office of the whole country reached 49 billion yuan, up 14.9% year on year, and it’s estimated that the annual box office revenue will exceed 60 billion yuan for the first time. The need for tourism consumption continued to boom, and there were over 97.9 million tourists during the three-day holiday of the Mid-Autumn Festival, with the revenue reaching 43.5 billion yuan. Among these, the revenue of the scenic areas in Beijing was 127 million yuan, up 11.5% year on year.

3. The online sales maintained rapid growth. In January-September, the online retail sales of physical goods nationwide increased by 27.7% year on year, taking up 17.5% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, 3.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. According to the statistics of the State Post Bureau, the express delivery was expected to reach 34.74 billion pieces in the first nine months, with an increase of 26.8% year on year. The total earnings of express delivery were expected to reach 424.63 billion yuan, up 24% year on year. Physical retail sales continued to pick up. The sales of key monitored convenience stores and supermarkets increased by 8% and 4.6% respectively year on year, 0.9 and 0.8 percentage points faster than those of the same period of the previous year.

4. The growth of rural consumption continued to be faster than that of the urban area. In January-September, the retail sales of national rural consumption goods were 3958.2 billion yuan, with an increase of 10.4% year on year, 1.2 and 1.3 percentage points higher than the national increase speed and the urban growth speed, taking up 14.4% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, 0.15 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year.

5. The consumption price rose moderately. In January-September, the consumer price increased by 2.1% year on year, with the growth expanding by 0.6 percentage points than that of the same period of time last year. According to the watchdog of MOFCOM, the price of national edible agricultural products in 36 large and medium-sized cities monitored by MOFCOM increased by 1.7% year on year, and that in September increased by 4.3% month on month.

The official said that the later consumption was expected to maintain its stable development while the national economy stays stable generally, the supply-side structural reforms develops and goes deeper, the high-quality development moves ahead firmly, the income growth of residents and social employment remain stable, and various consumer policies and measures continue to be implemented.