STORY: China taps consumption potential to sustain high-quality growth
SHOOTING TIME: File
DATELINE: Jan. 21, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:15
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of China-related footage
2. various of a McKinsey report "China consumption: Start of a new era"

STORYLINE:

The past few weeks have witnessed the rise to stardom of Harbin, China's "ice city" with a record influx of visitors. 

Over 3 million visitors flocked to the city during the New Year holidays, and tourism revenue rocketed 791.92 percent to over 5.9 billion yuan (about 820 million U.S. dollars).

This wooing of tourists once again shows the huge momentum of domestic consumption in China's huge market.

Data show 135 million domestic tourist trips were made in China during the three-day New Year holiday, up 155.3 percent year on year, and tourist revenue surpassed 79.73 billion yuan (about 11.08 billion U.S. dollars).
         
Physical stores across the country are also introducing novel consumption scenarios to attract customers, injecting fresh vitality into offline consumption.

According to a report released by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association, about 400 new shopping centers opened in China last year, and about 60 percent of the surveyed cities saw growth in the number of convenience stores.

Meanwhile, China is striving to forge consumption into a powerful engine to support high-quality growth.

As the world's largest new energy vehicle (NEV) producer and market, China has invested substantially in electric vehicle research and development. 

In 2023, production and sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China exceeded 9.58 million and 9.49 million units, surging 35.8 percent and 37.9 percent year on year, respectively.

China now boasts the world's largest middle-income group of more than 400 million people. Experts expect the middle-income population to expand to over 800 million in the next 15 years, which is leading to a gigantic domestic market.
                    
A McKinsey report "China consumption: Start of a new era" said China's economy is steadily evolving towards being more consumption-driven. It forecast retail growth, encompassing both products and services, to rise by some 5 percent for the coming years.

The report noted such growth would make China the single-largest growth market globally.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)