A series of consumer data generated during China’s 7-day Spring Festival holiday was recently released as the holiday officially concluded on Feb. 10, revealing new changes and the potential of China’s consumption market.

Box office exceeding 5 billion yuan

According to the latest statistics created by China's largest movie ticketing app Maoyan Entertainment, the country’s total box office hit 5.07 billion yuan ($752 million) during the Spring Festival season. The sci-fi blockbuster "The Wandering Earth" had earned over 1.86 billion yuan since its release on Feb. 5, followed by "Crazy Alien" and "Pegasus", which had respectively taken in nearly 1.39 billion and 998 million yuan.

Analysts said that there were 81 movies which had gained over 100 million yuan respectively in 2018, 45 of which were produced by China, witnessing the continuous expansion of China’s film market. 6 of the 10 movies that made the highest profits in 2018 were Chinese, analysts noted.

Such trends continued during this year’s Spring Festival. Thanks to the increasing number of big screens across the country, as well as the prevalent rise of ticket prices, the Chinese film market is expected to embrace a further boom in 2019.

Prospering tourism market

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Chinese tourism market generated revenue of 513.9 billion yuan during the week-long Spring Festival Holiday, and a total of 415 million trips were made across the country.

The eastern province of Anhui received over 33 million tourists, up 6.17 percent from a year before, taking in more than 21.8 billion yuan.

128 scenic spots in central China’s Hunan province saw an inflow of 10.8 million tourists during the Chinese New Year, 13.5 percent more than those in the same period last year.

The “reverse Spring Festival travel rush” also contributed to China’s tourism market during the 7-day holiday. Many parents chose to visit the cities where their children work, mostly first- or second-tier cities, to celebrate the Chinese New Year, rather than having the latter come back home.

As the livelihood of the Chinese people continues to improve, tourism is more and more becoming an integral part of family entertainment. The prospering tourism market during the Spring Festival no doubt signals the flourishing of this sector during the following holidays this year.

Retail sector witnessing surging performance

In recent years, a trend has been developed across the country that stores and supermarkets are always open during the Spring Festival. It is a key factor that stimulates consumption during the Chinese New Year.

For instance, 131 major stores, supermarkets and catering enterprises in northern China’s Hebei province saw revenue of nearly 1.7 billion yuan during the week-long holiday, up 4.8 percent from a year before.

In addition, e-commerce platforms also enjoyed growth. Compared with the last year, the sales volume of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com grew by 42.74 percent.

Analysts believe that given the background of macroeconomic pickup and consumption upgrading, China’s retailing industry is destined to rise in the new year. 

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