Festival spending surges

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Consumer spending in urban and rural China has continued to grow according to the Ministry of Commerce. Between January 25th and 30th, spending reached 290 billion yuan, up by 13.8 percent year on year.











ConsumerspendinginurbanandruralChinahascontinuedto
growaccordingtotheMinistryofCommerce.

In Beijing, more than 2300 stores, supermarkets and restaurants recorded sales of 150 billion yuan more than over last year's spring festival holiday.

In downtown Beijing's Wangfujing street, gold products were very popular, especially those with an ox feature.

A customer said, "It's the year of the ox, so I want to buy a commemorative gift for a child born in the year of the ox."

Stores selling gold saw a surge of 30 to 40 percent in sales revenue during the Spring Festival. Although according to the city's municipal bureau of commerce, the catering industry has been the biggest winner of all.

Xu Kang, spokesman of Beijing Municipal Bureau of commerce, said, "According to our records, sales for the catering industry increased the most. We've monitored 35 restaurants in Beijing, and their sales revenue during the week long holiday hit 73 million yuan, up nearly 17 percent year on year."

Food sales increased by 23 percent on last year, while sales of beverages went up by 17 percent. Fireworks, jewelry, clothes and home appliances also sold well. Industry insiders predict the flourish will continue for a while after the festival.