China's macro-economic policies, both existing and new, have continued to play an effective role in boosting consumption and driving investment growth in the country, Sheng Laiyun, deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said on Wednesday.
In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 4.6 percent year on year, 1.1 percentage point higher than the average growth rate of the whole of last year, Sheng said at a press conference in Beijing.
Retail sales of goods saw particularly robust growth, driven by preferential policies encouraging trade-ins and equipment upgrades, with products like electric bicycles, smartphones, tablets and smart watches seeing notably high sales growth, he stated.
Service consumption also registered accelerated growth, with retail sales of services growing by five percent in the first quarter, surpassing the growth rate of goods retail sales in the same period by 0.4 percentage point, the deputy director pointed out.
"Consumption is closely tied to income. To vigorously boost consumption, we need to enhance spending capacity. Moving forward, we will focus on stabilizing employment, increasing incomes and reducing burdens to improve spending power. We will work to significantly increase the supply of quality products and services for consumption, continuously unlock consumption potential, keep optimizing the consumption environment, and strengthen consumers' willingness to spend, to help ensure sustained positive development of the economy," Sheng noted.
He further emphasized that in the first quarter, the issuance of new special-purpose bonds reached nearly one trillion yuan (around 136 billion U.S. dollars).
Infrastructure investment grew by 5.8 percent, 1.4 percentage points higher than the average growth rate of the entire previous year, Sheng added.
"Driven by efforts to implement major national strategies and build up security capacity in key areas, particularly policies encouraging large-scale equipment upgrades, investment in the purchase of equipment and machinery nationwide increased by 19 percent year on year in the first quarter, 3.3 percentage points higher than the average growth rate of the entire last year. This growth contributed 64.6 percent to overall investment growth, effectively driving investment," the deputy director said.
He also pointed out that the policies have effectively promoted industrial production, and boosted market activity and confidence.
"The combination of new and existing policies has assisted the economy in getting off to a good start early this year. Moving forward, we will further focus on thorough, practical and specific implementation of policies to fully unleash their potential," he continued.
China's macro-economic policies drive consumption, investment growth: authorities
Li Yuhua, a farmer-turned forest ranger from a mountainous village in Dulongjiang Town, southwest China's Yunnan Province, has spent nine years protecting the forests in her hometown while helping local people increasing their incomes.
Li's family was once a registered impoverished household, relying mainly on corn farming for living. Things began to change for her family in 2016 when China launched a policy allowing registered impoverished population to work as ecological forest rangers, and Li became one of the first ecological forest rangers in the town.
"When I first began to work as a forest ranger, it was hard for me even to climb mountains, let alone climb rocks and cross rivers. But I told myself that since the country gave me this opportunity, I must do it well. I worked hard to improve my physical fitness and learn new skills, always actively taking the missions of patrolling mountains," said Li.
As Li often wears a colorful, vibrantly striped "Dulong blanket," a traditional clothing of the Dulong ethnic group, the villagers call her the "rainbow ranger."
"I think the name 'Rainbow Ranger' is beautiful. It makes me feel like a rainbow for us women of Dulong ethnic group guarding our homeland," Li said.
Dulong is a mountain-dwelling ethnic group in southwest China. It is one of the least populous of China's 56 ethnic groups, and the people were known for "direct transition" from primitive life to the modern socialist society at the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Most Dulong people live in Dulongjiang Town, where an inhospitable mountainous terrain used to thwart the place's development for decades. The town remained to be one of the poorest areas in Yunnan Province and even in the entire country. Thanks to government inputs and the development of industries with local features, the Dulong people have been experiencing remarkable life changes. In 2018, the Dulong ethnic group shook off poverty as a whole.
Beyond safeguarding forests, Li took the lead in developing non-timber forest-based economy in the town, guiding local residents to grow plants like Chinese black cardamom and wild-simulated lingzhi mushrooms as well as raising cattle and bees.
In 2025, the total output value of the town's non-timber forest-based economy reached nearly 30 million yuan (around 4.3 million U.S. dollars), with the annual average income of 43 households increasing by more than 20,000 yuan (around 2,900 U.S. dollars) each.
Li also established a cooperative for Dulong blanket making, attracting more than 170 women to learn traditional weaving techniques. They have developed 12 types of cultural and creative products, including shawls and scarves, and sold them worldwide through livestreaming, generating wealth for themselves.
"In the past, we only wove blankets for our own use. Now she teaches us to make the cultural and creative products and sell them. Last year, I earned more than 4,000 yuan (around 580 U.S. dollars) from weaving. I spent the money on my children's school fees and new appliances for my house," said Mu Jianying, member of the cooperative.
Li's dedication to both forestry and rural revitalization has earned her widespread recognition. In 2024, she was honored as model of ethnic solidarity and progress and received the title certificate from President Xi Jinping. She was also awarded the title of National March 8 Red-Banner Pacesetter, the highest honor presented by the All-China Women's Federation to the country's outstanding women, ahead of the International Women's Day observed on March 8.
Li said her achievements are the result of collective efforts.
"I often think that one person's strength is very limited, but the strength of a group is great. There are 195 ecological forest rangers like me protecting this land in the Dulongjiang Grand Canyon," she said.
As a female forest ranger, Li shared a message for women ahead of the International Women's Day.
"To mark the International Women's Day, I want to say to all my sisters: No matter what position we are in, as long as we are willing to endure hardship and work hard, we will surely weave our own rainbow," she said.
Forest ranger dedicated to guarding green mountains in Yunnan
Forest ranger dedicated to guarding green mountains in Yunnan
