Ministry of Commerce: During the Spring Festival holiday, the average daily sales of key retail and catering enterprises nationwide increased by 5.7% year-on-year compared to the Spring Festival holiday last year.

The person in charge of the Department of Consumer Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce talks about the situation of China’s consumer market in January–February 2026: Since this year began, the Ministry of Commerce has earnestly implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, held the “Happy Shopping for the New Spring” Spring Festival special event, improved quality and efficiency by implementing the replacement of consumer goods, and leveraged the 9-day extended holiday during the Spring Festival together with various policy measures to make precise efforts, driving steady growth in the consumer market and accelerating its shift toward newer and better offerings. In January–February, the total retail sales of consumer goods were 8.61 trillion yuan, up 2.8% year on year (the same applies below), with the growth rate accelerating by 1.9 percentage points compared with December last year. Among them, holiday consumption has been full of vitality. During the Spring Festival, commerce departments at all levels organized and carried out the “Happy Shopping for the New Spring” Spring Festival special event in depth, continuously releasing the potential of holiday consumption. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce for key businesses, during the Spring Festival holiday, the average daily sales of major retail and catering enterprises nationwide increased by 5.7% compared with the Spring Festival holiday last year, with the growth rate accelerating by 1.6 percentage points. The passenger flow and revenue of 78 pedestrian streets (commercial districts) under key monitoring by the Ministry of Commerce increased by 6.7% and 7.5%, respectively. It has become a new trend for foreigners to come to China to celebrate the New Year, and on key platforms, the number of orders for inbound tourism products increased by 18.4%. (Ministry of Commerce)