Shanghai consumption rockets during New Year holiday

SHANGHAI - Consumption in Shanghai rose significantly during the New Year holiday, the latest figures have shown.

According to China UMS, about 13.5 billion yuan ($1.96 billion) was spent on consumption in Shanghai during the three-day holiday ending Tuesday, up 10.6 percent year-on-year. Of the money, about 4 billion yuan was spent by more than 3.64 million foreign tourists, up more than 11 percent year-on-year.

Shopping accounted for 82 percent of all consumption by foreign visitors, indicating that most foreign tourists came on a holiday shopping spree in Shanghai. In the Nextage shopping mall in Shanghai's Pudong Area, sales revenue was up 9.2 percent to more than 800 million yuan from Monday to Tuesday morning, a record high for a Shanghai shopping mall in a single day.

Retail sales closed up 7.9 percent year-on-year at 1.15 trillion yuan during the first 11 months of 2018, according to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce. For the whole year, total retail sales of consumer goods in Shanghai are predicted to rise about 8 percent, providing a big boost to the local economy.

An increasing number of domestic and foreign brands have converged in Shanghai. In the first 10 months of 2018, a total of 247 brands opened their first stores in Shanghai, twice the number of 2017.