Suning's founder hails 'year of opportunities'

Zhang Jindong, the founder and chairman of Suning Holdings Group Ltd, China's largest electronics retailer, is calling 2016 a "year of opportunities" for firms in the sector as the country's shift toward more domestic consumption continues to drive the economy.

"Despite the downward pressure, I don't think 2016 will be an economic winter as cold as many expect," Zhang said in Beijing Thursday night, on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body.

Zhang said he expected the purchasing power of Chinese to continue growing after consumption contributed 66.4 percent of China's GDP growth last year, quoting the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce, up 15.4 percentage points year-on-year.