On February 18, the Financial Times published an article entitled "The Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon is a High-profile Start for China's Economy", and the main contents of the full text are excerpted as follows:
The picture shows that on February 17, people visited and played in the three lanes and seven lanes of Fuzhou, Fujian. (*From China News Service).
At the beginning of the Year of the Dragon, China's consumer spending and travel trips surged during the Lunar New Year holiday, indicating a boost to China's economy. China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism said that this year's Spring Festival holiday is 8 days of domestic tourism travel 47.4 billion person-times, a year-on-year increase of 343%, an increase of 19. on a comparable basis compared to the same period in 20190%。
The Chinese New Year holiday, which officially ended on February 18, was the first Lunar New Year holiday in recent years to be unaffected by the pandemic or related restrictions, making it an important barometer of consumer confidence in China.
With the property market and investor confidence heavily influencing economic activity, China's policymakers hope that domestic demand will help get the economy back on track. In China, the Chinese New Year is the closest holiday to Christmas in the West, when many companies and factories are closed, and the country's famous tourist attractions are crowded. According to official data, during this year's Spring Festival holiday, Chinese domestic tourists spent a total of 6,3268.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 473%, an increase of 7. on a comparable basis compared to the same period in 20197%。
Shen Meng, director of Chanson Capital, said that this post-pandemic Lunar New Year holiday comes at a time when people are facing challenges, which has prompted many people to open their wallets and "release stress". "There is also hope that the Year of the Dragon will bring a new dimension to the economy. Analysts at U.S. investment bank Jefferies Group estimate that despite the increase in the total travel cost of domestic tourists during the Spring Festival this year, the per capita spending of tourists fell by 9 percent compared with the same period in 20195%。Qiu Yun, a teacher from Shenzhen, went on a five-night trip to Macau, Zhongshan and Zhuhai, but said she was more restrained in spending than before.
Analysts say tourism has become a bright spot in China's economic recovery. According to Ctrip data, the total number of travel orders for visa-free countries in "Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" during the Spring Festival increased by more than 30% compared with the same period in 2019. According to official data, there were about 3.6 million outbound tourists and 3.23 million inbound tourists from China during the Spring Festival. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)** said it received about 1.43 million visitors to Hong Kong during the Lunar New Year holiday, of which 1.25 million were from the Mainland, reaching the same level in 2018. (Written by Ryan McMorrow, et al.).
Qatar's Al Jazeera published an article entitled "China's Economic Recovery Faces a Critical Moment" on February 19, and the main contents of the full text are excerpted as follows:
China slightly exceeded its 5 percent growth target last year. While some analysts have called for radical measures to boost China's economy, others believe that there are reasons for optimism beyond stress at the moment.
"China** has shown a renewed willingness to invest in more consumer-facing technology sectors, such as renewables and electric vehicles. Unlike real estate, these industries have the ability to create jobs and promote economic self-sufficiency. Wu Zhuoyin also stressed that economic transformation takes time, and "there is no silver bullet to achieve lightning rapid growth".
Conor Gallagher, a professor at Boston University in the United States, said China's economic growth trajectory was healthier than sometimes portrayed. "It's easy to forget China's economic development since the 90s of the 20th century. Recently, China's economic growth has slowed from its highs, but it still grew at 52%, this year's ** is also robust. (ENDS).
Written by Alexander Kozur-Wright.