China's consumer market in April maintained its recovery momentum from the first quarter, buoyed by supportive policies and robust trends in tourism.
Policies promoting consumer goods trade-ins have been strengthened and expanded. According to monitoring data from the National Information Center on major home appliance categories in online retail, the online retail sales of appliances eligible for trade-ins in April increased by 13.2 percent year-on-year, with a clear trend toward greener and smarter products.
In April, the National Information Center's offline consumption heat index increased by 25.4 percent year-on-year, 4.6 percentage points higher than the previous month, showing a continued upward trend.
Online, the center's life services consumption heat index rose by 14.2 percent year-on-year, with the leisure and entertainment, catering, and accommodation sectors growing by 42.4, 10.3, and 2.3 percent respectively, reflecting strong consumer enthusiasm.
Since the beginning of this year, inbound tourism and shopping have reached new heights.
A series of effective policy measures—such as visa-free entry, convenient payment options, and instant tax refunds—have fueled a surge in the popularity of "shopping in China" among foreign tourists.
According to data from the National Information Center, in April, the average daily number of international flights increased by 22.4 percent year-on-year, 1.5 percentage points higher than the previous month.
The number of inbound travelers at ports of entry in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen repeatedly hit record highs.
"In April, China's various macroeconomic policies worked in coordination, with high-frequency data across multiple sectors—such as consumption, investment, and industrial production—showing continued positive trends. Despite mounting external pressures, this reflects the strong resilience and vitality of China's economic development. With a series of existing and new policy measures set to be intensively implemented and take effect in the second quarter, China's economy is expected to maintain steady and rapid growth," said Wei Ying, deputy director of the Big Data Development Department of the State Information Center under the National Development and Reform Commission.
Gains in Chinese consumer market persist in April
