October Golden Week Pushes China Retail Sales Up 18 Percent

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Oct. 12 – China’s longest-ever national holiday, which finally ended on Friday, saw average retail sales increase by 18 percent over the same holiday period last year.

Retail sales for the eight-day long celebration reached some US$83 billion during the vacation, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Retail sales surged the most in Guizhou Province with a 37.6 percent increase, followed by Chongqing at 32.6 percent and Henan at 31 percent. Consumers spent most on household electronics and appliances such as high definition TV, digital cameras, mobile telephones and double door refrigerators.

Domestic tourism figures for the holiday period are also expected to jump by 25 percent as some 200 million Mainland Chinese traveled out of their home town. According to the online travel service Ctrip Beijing was the most favored destination, followed by Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chengdu. Beijing received 15 million visitors, an increase of 59 percent year on year, while Shanghai received 5.8million, up 17.3 percent.