China's consumer market showed signs of robust recovery in the first quarter of 2025, driven by pro-consumption policies and heightened spending during the Chinese New Year holidays, according to the latest high-frequency data from the State Information Center (SIC).
The SIC's offline consumption index, a key gauge of brick-and-mortar retail activity, surged by 14.2 percent year on year in Q1, against the 9.1 percent rise in the previous quarter.
Momentum strengthened further in March, with growth of the index hitting 20 percent -- up 4.7 percentage points from the January-February period.
The offline consumption index for China's first-tier cities, second-tier cities, third-tier cities and below saw year-on-year growth of 19.6 percent, 11.4 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively.
The small commodity market heat index, tracking sales of household goods and daily essentials, jumped 16.3 percent in Q1, with March alone seeing a 21.6 percent spike.
The figures underscore resilient demand for affordable, high-frequency consumer items, signaling a broader recovery in grassroots economic activity.
The country's service sector saw a notable expansion as well, with the life services consumption heat index climbing 18.3 percent in the first quarter - 7.4 percentage points higher from the last quarter of 2024.
Among them, the leisure and dining sectors saw growth of 67.6 percent and 14.5 percent respectively.
Online searches for the Qingming Festival travel and spring outing destinations -- including keywords like "cherry blossom spots" and "hiking trails" -- skyrocketed over 400 percent in March, the SIC's internet monitoring data revealed.
China's consumer market gains momentum in Q1
China's consumer market gains momentum in Q1
China's consumer market gains momentum in Q1
