CCTV News: The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference on April 17. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said that in the first quarter of 2025, the consumer market generally achieved a stable start.

According to reports, in the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods was 12.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year, an increase of 1.1 percentage points faster than the whole year of the previous year, and market sales continued to rebound. Among them, the growth rate of total retail sales in March accelerated by 1.9 percentage points from January to February.

Commodity consumption highlights. Retail sales of goods increased by 4.6% year-on-year, and retail sales of goods units above the limit increased by 5.8%. The old-for-new policy continues to be effective, and the retail volume of passenger cars has increased by 5.8% year-on-year. The retail sales of communication equipment, cultural office supplies, and home appliances and furniture in units above the limit increased significantly year-on-year. Upgraded products grew well, with retail sales of sports and entertainment products increasing by 25.4%.

Service consumption has grown steadily. Service retail sales increased by 5.0% year-on-year, 0.4 percentage points faster than commodity retail sales in the same period. Per capita service consumption expenditure for residents increased by 5.4% year-on-year, accounting for 43.4% of per capita consumption expenditure, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the same period in 2024, and catering revenue was 1.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.7% year-on-year.

Ho Yongqian, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that innovation momentum continues to be released. Digital consumption has developed rapidly, with online retail sales increasing by 7.9% year-on-year, of which, online retail sales of physical goods increased by 5.7%. Green consumption is highly favored, and the initial public offering economy is full of vitality. At the press conference, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce said that it will accelerate the introduction of policy measures such as optimizing departure tax refunds.

He Yongqian introduced that on April 13, the Ministry of Commerce and relevant departments launched the "Shopping in China" series of activities at the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo. The activities focus on the first-mover economy and organize and hold colorful and diverse special activities in four aspects: boutique shopping, exquisite food, wonderful tourism and exquisite exhibitions.

Coordinate commodity consumption and service consumption, so that consumers can taste global food, enjoy the magnificent mountains and rivers, and enjoy the exquisite exhibition while Tesco's international high-quality and domestic trendy products.

At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce will adhere to the dual-wheel drive of "policy + activity", accelerate the implementation of special actions to boost consumption, increase efforts to expand the implementation of consumer goods traded in old products, implement in-depth actions to improve quality and benefit the people in service consumption, and accelerate the introduction of policies and measures such as optimizing departure tax refunds.