China sees strong consumption surge in first two days of Spring Festival holiday

China's consumer market got off to a robust start during the first two days of the Spring Festival holiday, with strong demand for green, smart, and health-related products driving sales, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

The Spring Festival falls on Tuesday this year, with the official holiday season lasting nine days from Feb 15 to 23.

Commerce big data showed that daily sales at key retail and catering enterprises during the first two days of the holiday increased by 10.6 percent compared with the first two days of the 2025 Spring Festival holiday.

On Sunday, the first day of the holiday, foot traffic and revenue at 78 key monitored commercial pedestrian streets and business districts rose by 23.2 percent and 33.2 percent, respectively, year on year.

Trade-in programs continued to fuel consumer demand. As of Monday, 27.55 million consumer transactions had benefited from 2026 trade-in initiatives, generating 193.09 billion yuan in sales. Among them, 607,000 vehicles were traded in, contributing 99.56 billion yuan in new car sales.

Demand for green, smart, and health-conscious products remained strong. According to commerce big data, sales of smart wearable devices on major platforms surged by 130 percent on Sunday, while smart blood pressure and glucose monitors saw sales jump by more than 60 percent. Sales of organic food increased by 52 percent.

Service consumption also saw significant growth. On Sunday, bookings for Chinese New Year's Eve dinner on major platforms soared by 80.7 percent, while hotel accommodation transactions grew by 32.7 percent. Car rental orders rose by 54 percent. Spending on ice-and-snow tourism more than doubled, while warm-escape travel consumption increased by 68 percent.

China sees strong consumption surge in first two days of Spring Festival holiday

With China assuming the rotating presidency on Friday, the United Nations Security Council will focus its work in May on revitalizing the authority of the UN Charter and the role of the United Nations, while advancing the political settlement of the Middle East issue, and promoting the stability and development of African countries.

Briefing reporters on the Security Council's priorities for May, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations and president of the Security Council for May, made the statement on Friday.

In recent years, the world has been witnessing growing turbulence in the international landscape, with conflicts increasing, divisions widening, and the multilateral system, along with international law, under considerable strain, he said, urging the international community to take urgent actions to uphold the authority of the UN Charter and strengthen the role of the United Nations to prevent the world from "relapsing into the jungle" and "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war".

In this context, Fu said, the Security Council will convene a high-level open debate in May under the theme of upholding the purposes and the principles of the UN Charter and strengthening the UN-centered international system.

Security Council to focus on UN's role, Middle East, Africa in May: Chinese envoy