On April 20, the person in charge of the Department of Consumption Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the operation of China's consumer market in the first quarter of 2020。
The person in charge of the Department of Consumption Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce pointed out that as the domestic epidemic prevention and control has achieved important results in the stage, the economic and social order has accelerated the recovery, the business circulation has resumed work and the market has continued to improve, and the consumer market has tended to be active in March, sales have stabilized and rebounded, and prices have steadily fallen。However, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, market consumption declined more in the first quarter of 2020, and the total retail sales of social consumer goods in the country achieved 7.86 trillion yuan, down 19 percent year-on-year.0%。The main features are as follows:
First, the decline in consumption has gradually narrowed。Retail sales of consumer goods fell by 15% in March from a year earlier.8 percent, 4 percent narrower than in January-February.7 percentage points;Retail sales of goods fell by 12.0%, a decline of 5% narrower than in January-February.Six percentage points。Among them, the decline in the total retail sales of consumer goods in urban and rural areas narrowed respectively by 4.8个和3.Nine percentage points。
Second, online consumption grew steadily。From January to March, online retail sales of physical goods increased by 5.The growth rate is 9%, which is 2% faster than that in January-February.9 percentage points, accounting for the total proportion of 23.6 percent, up 2 percent from January to February.1 percentage point;Online retail sales on some large e-commerce platforms rose about 10% year on year in March。
Third, consumption of daily necessities grew steadily。In March, residents' basic necessities of life commodities increased rapidly, grain, oil, food, beverages, and Chinese and Western medicine commodities increased by 19 percent respectively.2%、6.3%和8.0%, an increase of 9% over January and February respectively.5个、3.2个和7.Eight percentage points。
Fourth, sales of key commodities rebounded。In March, the decline in durable consumer goods narrowed significantly, and the decline in automobiles, building and decoration materials, and furniture goods narrowed by 18.9个、16.6个和10.8 percent。The sales of daily necessities for life and work increased from a decline, and the sales of communication equipment, cultural office supplies, and daily necessities increased by 6.5%、6.1%和0.3%。
Fifth, the rise in the price level fell back。The overall price level of the country turned from rising to falling, and the CPI rose by 0. 0 in March compared with February.8% turns into a decline of 1.2%, up 4.3 percent, down 0 percent from the previous month.9 percentage points, the lowest since November 2019;Pork prices fell for seven consecutive weeks, and last week (April 6-12) the average wholesale price of white stripe pigs in 36 large and medium-sized cities monitored by the Ministry of Commerce has basically dropped to the level of the beginning of the year。
A person in charge of the Department of Consumption Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce said that since the outbreak of the epidemic, China's consumer market has shown strong resilience, vitality and new growth points。New and upgraded consumption continued to expand, new consumption models such as contactless distribution, unmanned retail, and live broadcast sales developed rapidly, and consumption of information consumption, artificial intelligence, and "Internet + medical, health, and health" increased significantly。Overall, the epidemic has a large impact on consumption in the short term and a moderate impact in the medium term。With the implementation of a series of policies and measures introduced by the state and local governments, residents' consumer confidence has gradually recovered, and consumption will steadily pick up in the later period, and the epidemic will not change the development trend of long-term stability and continuous upgrading of consumption in China。