As the Chinese New Year approaches, residents in Qingdao, a seaside city in east China's Shandong Province, have been busy stocking up on festive goods, with seafood among the most sought-after items for holiday feasts.
In Laoshan District, a local market was packed with shoppers seeking traditional holiday supplies to celebrate the most important festival for Chinese people as early as 08:00. Local sweet-cured fish, available in more than a dozen varieties at fair prices, were particularly popular.
"People living by the sea all love this fish. Monkfish is more on the supply, and we also have our local squids," said Wang Songyang, a resident.
Prices have remained largely stable compared with last year, though mackerel saw a modest increase.
"This year, per kilo mackerel is more than four yuan (about 0.57 U.S. dollars) higher than last year, while the prices of other fish are basically the same. I can sell 200 to 250 kilograms per day," said Zhao Chun, a vendor.
Fresh catches such as pomfret and yellow croaker are also in high demand, as families prepare traditional dishes for the family reunion at the Spring festival, which falls on Feb 17 this year.
Seafood sales surge at Qingdao market before Chinese New Year
China's consumer goods industry got off to a good start in 2026, with main indicators registering steady growth in the first two months, according to the data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The value added of enterprises above the designated size -- whose annual main business income reaches 20 million yuan (about 2.93 million U.S. dollars) or more -- in this sector increased by 4.8 percent year on year in January and February, accounting for 29.2 percent of the total value added, 3.1 percentage points higher than that of last year. Among the 14 major industry categories, 10 achieved positive growth.
In the two months, these enterprises achieved a business revenue of approximately 5.1 trillion yuan, up 4.4 percent year on year, while the total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 8.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.8 percent.
"The first two months were in the traditional peak consumption season, driving the growth of orders and helping to unleash production capacity in the consumer goods industry. Some emerging consumption patterns, such as experience consumption and trendy toy consumption, grew rapidly, and the supply market showed a diversified growth trend," said Dai Xiaoxia, deputy director of the Institute of Consumer Goods Industry Research of China Center for Information Industry Development.
In terms of foreign trade, exporters above the designated size delivered consumer goods worth around 592.54 billion yuan, up 2.2 percent year on year, with the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, the papermaking and paper products industry registering relatively rapid growth.
China will increase the supply of high-quality products in the consumer goods industry, steadily promoting the intelligent, green and integrated development of the sector.
China's consumer goods industry posts steady growth in first 2 months
