CRI听力:China sees robust consumption during Spring Festival holiday

Official data shows China see robust sales during the week-long Chinese New Year holiday.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, sales in the retail and catering sectors reached 926 billion yuan, or around 150 billion U.S. dollars during the Chinese New Year, up over 10 percent from a year earlier.

Sales of traditional festival-related goods, jewelry, clothing, appliances, and electronics maintained rapid growth.

In addition to the traditional lunar New Year rituals of attending temple fairs and making special Spring Festival purchases in supermarkets, people are increasingly opting for online shopping, restaurant meals, and mobile payment.

Many customers chose to buy quality and high-tech products as Lunar New Year gifts.

Yao Wei is the manager of an electronics store in Shenzhen.

"Our products such as the noise-canceling headphones and projectors with projection touchscreen are becoming popular gifts for parents, relatives and friends as special purchases for the Spring Festival."

A young man says compared with traditional gifts, he prefers technology products.

"I think the technology products are much better than traditional Spring Festival gifts such as food and drinks. So I'm thinking of buying something for my younger brother."

Dog-themed accessories were most favored by consumers as this year is the Year of Dog in the 12-animal Chinese zodiac.

In the catering market, family dinners on the lunar New Year's Eve were almost fully booked at some famous restaurants.

It has become a fashion for restaurants to work with online platforms to offer delivered dinners or home cooking services.

Consumption in culture and entertainment was also strong.

China's box office raked in 4.6 billion yuan from Feb. 16 to Feb. 20, up nearly 60 percent from a year earlier.

Chen Han is a senior director with the big data department of China UnionPay.

"People tend to pay for experiencing culture, delicacies and scenery that represent a higher-level consumption demand."

China also posted a double-digit growth in tourism revenue during the holiday this year.

The tourism industry garnered 475 billion yuan in revenue, up 12.6 percent from last year's holiday.

386 million tourist trips were made, up 12.1 percent from a year earlier.

The Chinese Lunar New Year is traditionally a time for family reunion in China.

This year's holiday ran from Feb. 15th to the 21st.