Holiday sales show potential, resilience

WE have had a grey, wet and cold end to the weeklong Spring Festival, with parts of China in the north reporting snow and sleet.

The harsh weather might add to the attraction of the seasonal family gathering, without dampening the enthusiasm of tourists and shoppers.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, domestic tourism revenue reached 513.9 billion yuan (US$76.21 billion) during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, an annual increase of 8.2 percent. A total of 415 million tourist trips were made, representing a growth of 7.6 percent year on year. By comparison, during the Spring Festival holiday last year, 386 million trips were made domestically, which added 475 billion yuan to the travel revenue.

The statistics from the Ministry of Commerce were equally impressive, showing that during the holiday that ended on Sunday the sales achieved by retailers and restauranteurs amounted to more than 1 trillion yuan, up 8.5 percent over the figure for the festival last year.

In an analysis yesterday Xinhua concluded that these encouraging consumption figures suggest that internal demand is already an important driving force for economic growth, as it steadily adds vigor to Chinese economy, steering it in the course of quality development.

Deepening reforms

In a similar tone, the Economic Daily newspaper commented yesterday that these glowing figures, by suggesting China’s huge market potentials, give us confidence and courage to meet external risks.

The commentary concluded that whether we can seize the opportunity for development and turn our determination and courage into development potentials hinge much on our ability to manage our own affairs well, so that we are capable of achieving something big in this era that is particularly amenable to the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.

In the new year, which is pregnant with challenges and opportunities, we should continue to take measures to stabilize employment, finance, foreign trade and investment, so that we can achieve sustained economic development and social stability.

Of all these measures, how to deepen reforms and expand opening-up is of vital importance in helping us achieve our objective.