Ministry of Commerce: Daily average sales of key retail and catering enterprises nationwide during the Spring Festival holiday increased 5.7% year-over-year compared to the Spring Festival holiday last year

People’s Financial News, March 19 — The head of the Consumer Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce discusses China’s consumer market situation in January–February 2026: This year, the Ministry of Commerce has earnestly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. It held the “Happy Shopping for the New Spring” special event for the Spring Festival, improved quality and efficiency through old-for-new consumer goods replacement, and leveraged the long nine-day holiday during the Spring Festival along with various policy measures to precisely boost consumption. This has driven steady growth and a shift toward higher-quality consumption in the market.

In January–February, total retail sales of consumer goods reached 8.61 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.8% year-on-year (YoY), with the growth rate accelerating by 1.9 percentage points compared to December last year. Holiday consumption was particularly vigorous. During the Spring Festival, various levels of commerce departments actively organized the “Happy Shopping for the New Spring” special event, continuously releasing holiday consumption potential. Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that the average daily sales of key retail and catering enterprises nationwide during the Spring Festival holiday increased by 5.7% compared to last year’s holiday, with the growth rate accelerating by 1.6 percentage points. The foot traffic and sales revenue of 78 monitored pedestrian streets (business districts) increased by 6.7% and 7.5%, respectively. It has become a new trend for foreigners to celebrate the New Year in China, with orders for inbound tourism products on key platforms increasing by 18.4%.