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Retail sales show signs of picking up
By Xu Dashan (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-16 08:39
China's retail sales rose 10.5 per cent in the first two months of this year
compared with a year ago, as consumers increased spending on larger items such
as mobile phones and cars.
The country's retail sales stood at 878.1 billion yuan
(US$105.8 billion) during those two months, the National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS
) announced in a
statement yesterday.
Car sales were up 60 per cent in those two months compared with a year
earlier, while petroleum sales jumped 41.2 per cent, the bureau said.
Sales of telecommunications equipment, a category that includes mobile
phones, rose 61.3 per cent.
Cars, petroleum and telecoms gear account for just 6.5 per cent of total
sales, but they contribute 23.4 per cent to sales growth.
"They are the driving forces behind market growth," the bureau said.
Zhu Jianfang, an economist at China Securities, said the higher retail growth
figure in the two-month period suggests the country's retail sales market has
begun to pick up gradually.
"This trend will continue in the coming months, as people's expectations for
the future are still optimistic," he said.
A recent survey by the People's Bank of China suggests that 26.3 per cent of
urban residents who own individual accounts in banks said they believe their
income will grow this year, while only 8.5 per cent of them believe their income
will be reduced.
More than 10 per cent of urban residents are planning to buy private cars in
the second quarter, while 21.4 per cent of them plan to buy private homes.
Rural residents also have confidence in the future, as the central government
has pledged to increase their income by implementing a variety of different
measures, Zhu said.
The country's retail sales is likely to grow 11 per cent for this year, he
said.
Qi Jingmei, a senior economist with the State Information Centre, agreed with
Zhu, adding improvement in retail sales can only be gradual. "Consumption should
play a bigger role in driving the country's economic growth," she said.
Last year, retail sales grew a year-on-year 9.1 per cent, while the country's
gross domestic product also grew 9.1 per cent.
Commissioner Li Deshui of the National Bureau of Statistics said earlier that
he was confident that the economy would grow by more than 7 per cent this year.
The micro base for the current economic development has been improving, as
entrepreneurs and consumers have shown increased confidence for the future, he
said.
The formation of the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai
economic zone, the revival of the old industrial base in Northeast China, and
the further development of the high-tech industry and service sector will all
inject new enthusiasm into future economic development, he said.
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