Phoenix TV:

My question is about consumption. As we know, in 2021, the total retail sales of consumer goods grew 12.5% year on year. How does the MOFCOM evaluate the recovery of the consumer market? Are there any features and highlights you'd like to share? Thank you.

Xu Xingfeng:

I'll answer your questions. I'm delighted to meet with the media on China's Little New Year, which falls about a week before the Lunar New Year. Thanks for your attention to the work related to consumption, and I also hope that the media will continue to keep an eye on this field.

Just now, Ms. Guo provided a comprehensive introduction to the operation of China's consumer market in 2021, and I'd like to add more information about it. Last year, in spite of the adverse impact of the epidemic, China's consumer market maintained a steady recovery, showing great vitality and resilience. We have made a good start for the 14th Five-Year Plan. The retail sales of consumer goods totaled 44.1 trillion yuan in 2021, an increase of 12.5% over 2020 and an average increase of 3.9% over the past two years. Throughout the whole year, the features and highlights are mainly reflected in the following four aspects.

First, the innovation-driven features are evident. Various new technologies and concepts have been broadly implemented in the consumption area. New business formats and new models such as curated retail have been rapidly employed. Furthermore, new scenarios like experimental, immersive, and interactive consumption continue to emerge. The integration of business, tourism, and online and offline activities has also been accelerated. Online retail sales reached 13 trillion yuan in 2021, up 14.1% from the previous year.

Second, smart consumption has increased rapidly. The retail sales value of communication equipment by enterprises above the designated size grew by 14.6% over the previous year. The shipment of 5G mobile phones reached 266 million, up 63.5%, which accounted for 76% of total mobile phone shipments in the same period. The sales volume of smart products on many e-commerce platforms, such as smart door locks, smart bathrooms, and floor-sweeping robots, increased by more than 30%.

Third, green consumption is booming. Taking the sales of automobiles as an example, the sales volume of new energy vehicles reached 3.521 million, an increase of 1.6 times over the previous year. It means that, for every 8 vehicles sold, 1 was a new energy vehicle. And the used car transaction volume, which reflects the circular economy, reached 17.585 million units, an increase of 22.6%. And the ratio of used cars sales to new vehicles sales reached 0.67 to 1.  

Fourth, ice and snow consumption continued to rise. As we all know, the Beijing Winter Olympics will be held in a couple of days. There has been a boom in ice and snow consumption in different places. While following proper epidemic prevention and control procedures, many places, such as Beijing, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, and Hubei, have launched various kinds of ice and snow consumption activities. Meanwhile, the sales volume of ski products on several e-commerce platforms more than doubled.

These are the highlights and features of the consumption. At the same time, it has been noticed that consumption in many regions, industries, and varieties has recovered slowly due to the pandemic and other factors. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed individuals are still confronting difficulties in their operations. As a result, we should still make further efforts to maintain the steady development of consumption.