China's consumer market gains momentum in Q1

China

China's consumer market gains momentum in Q1

2025-04-06 11:50 Last Updated At：23:37

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.

Peng Liyuan, Tamara Vucic visit Beijing dance academy

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Tamara Vucic, wife of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, visited Beijing Dance Academy on Monday.

Tamara Vucic is accompanying the Serbian president on his state visit to China.

Peng and Tamara Vucic visited the academy's dance museum to learn about the history of Chinese dance. In the dance studios, they observed with keen interest the teaching of Chinese dance, ballet and other dances. They then watched the students' performances and had cordial exchanges with teachers and students in a lively and warm atmosphere.

Peng said that dance art transcends national borders, conveys cultures and ideas, and plays a unique role in people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning. She expressed hope that artists from both countries would strengthen exchanges and cooperation to create more outstanding works.

Tamara Vucic thanked Peng for her thoughtful arrangements and expressed her willingness to promote cultural and artistic exchanges between the two countries and contribute to the deepening of Serbia-China friendship.