As the Spring Festival holiday came to an end, consumption data was released one after another. In 2024, the box office of the Spring Festival movie will reach 801.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 185%；Online consumption in catering, accommodation, tourism, retail, film and television entertainment increased significantly year-on-year. Especially for domestic tourism outings47.4 billion person-times, a year-on-year increase of 343%, and the total cost of travel increased by 47% year-on-year3%。From Chinese New Year's Eve to the eighth day of the first lunar month, the industry-wide online payment transactions processed by NetUnion Clearing Company and China UnionPay continued to grow, with an average daily transaction volume of 125 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8%. According to Meituan data, the average daily consumption during the Spring Festival increased by 36% year-on-year, and increased by more than 155% compared with 2019. The consumption data of the Spring Festival is eye-catching, indicating that residents' consumption mentality is gradually picking up, and the economic growth of the Year of the Dragon is ushering in a "good start".
Consumption has become the main engine for smoothing the economic cycle, consolidating economic fundamentals, and driving sustained economic growth, which is of great strategic significance for accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, enhancing the vitality and resilience of economic development, and improving people's livelihood and well-being. Since 2023, with the smooth transition of the epidemic and the rapid recovery of the economy, various departments and regions have actively implemented policies and measures to boost consumption, the consumer market has shown a vigorous trend, urban and rural consumption has grown simultaneously, and the development of new scenarios and new models has continued to improve. China's total retail sales of consumer goods in 2023 will reach 471 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 72%, and the contribution rate of final consumption expenditure to economic growth is as high as 825%。However, it should also be noted that the problems of insufficient effective supply of products and services and low supply quality have not been fundamentally solved, the pain points in the consumption chain have not been completely eliminated, and the consumption willingness is not strong enough, the consumption environment is not good enough, and the consumption safety is not high enough and other factors are still restricting the continuous expansion of consumption.
To expand consumption, the focus should be on enhancing residents' consumption capacity, improving consumption conditions, and innovating consumption scenarios, fully tapping the advantages of China's super-large-scale market, smoothing the economic cycle, releasing consumption potential, and better meeting the needs of the people for a high-quality life. It is necessary to closely follow the requirements of high-quality economic development, conform to the trend of improving the quality and upgrading of residents' consumption, rely on reform and innovation to break down institutional and institutional obstacles, comprehensively create a good consumption environment, take multiple measures to promote the steady growth of residents' income, continuously improve residents' consumption capacity, and make efforts to guide residents to continue to expand consumption from both ends of supply and demand.
A virtuous circle of mutual promotion of consumption and investment has been formed. The key to expanding consumption lies in increasing residents' disposable income, which in turn is inseparable from effective investment and economic growth. On the other hand, the cultivation and release of consumption capacity can also escort effective investment and economic growth, and the two complement each other. On the one hand, accelerate the development of producer services, cultivate new consumption scenarios, enhance consumption diversity, and enhance consumer experience. Strengthen consumption stimulus in key areas and promote the iterative upgrading of relevant supply. On the other hand, we will promote the two-way force of stabilizing consumption and promoting investment. Stabilize the real estate market and innovate measures to provide affordable housing. Enhance the stickiness between human capital investment and consumption expansion, appropriately increase the living allowance for students and scientific research personnel, and provide more support for the cultivation of human capital while stimulating the consumption vitality of specific groups.
Take multiple measures to stabilize key consumption areas. Moderate efforts in key consumption areas are an important fulcrum to leverage the domestic demand market, optimize the demand structure, and release consumption potential. On the premise of "housing for living, not speculation", we will encourage real estate enterprises to develop rationally, effectively revitalize the stock, and expand the supply of affordable housing through targeted release of liquidity and provision of subsidiesEnhance the flexibility and effectiveness of policies such as tax regulation and low-interest loans, and better meet the demand for improved housing. Implement trade-in, optimize consumer credit, supporting tax reductions and exemptions, and appropriately issue consumption vouchers to boost commodity consumption. Promote the sinking of high-quality pension, medical care, childcare, vocational education and other resources, develop the silver economy, characteristic cultural tourism, balance the distribution of resources, and bridge the gap between urban and rural basic public services. Innovate the format of "traditional places + new services", upgrade traditional consumption scenarios, and cultivate and expand new consumption with digital consumption, green consumption, smart consumption, and domestic "trendy products" as the starting point. (This article**: Economy** Author: Wang Chenwei Wu Yubing).
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*:Economy**.