Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/) http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/02/05/240458/Retail sales rise 15.5% in holiday.htm
People go shopping on Nanjing Road – the Shanghai's busiest shopping street -- during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday. China's retail sales reached 190 billion yuan (US$23.5 billion) in the period. -- Zhang Suoqing
Retail sales rise 15.5% in holiday
Created: 2006-02-05 CST, Updated: 2006-02-05 CST
CHINA'S retail sales reached 190 billion yuan (US$23.5 billion) during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday that ended yesterday, up 15.5 percent from last year's Spring Festival, the Ministry of Commerce said today.
Last year's Spring Festival holiday started on February 9 and ended on February 15.
More people chose to have "nianyefan" – the Lunar New Year's Eve dinner -- in restaurants or hotels, bringing an increase of 25 percent of income of this sector. In Nanjing, 1.2 million people had their most important dinner of a year in restaurant, 200,000 more than last year's holidays.
Retailers also earned a lot from firecrackers, jewelry, high-end electric appliances and mobile phones during the period.
Lots of migrant workers returned to their hometowns for the festival, doubling the sales of cigarette, wine, non-staple food and clothes to rural markets. The retail sales in Chongqing, Hebei, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Shanxi grow 15 percent to 18 percent during the holiday.
The national holiday office, a government body which coordinates the affairs related to holiday travel, traffic and safety, said the amounts of tourists and travel income both grow 10 percent from last year.
The golden holiday appeared to be the safest one ever, with only three people dead in a traffic accident in Yunnan Province and a Chinese tourist drowned while traveling overseas.
The complaints from tourists decreased to 135 to the office this year.
China started its weeklong golden holiday practice in October, 2000. It has three weeklong holidays a year during the Spring Festival, Labor Day and the National Day.
Last year's Spring Festival holiday started on February 9 and ended on February 15.
More people chose to have "nianyefan" – the Lunar New Year's Eve dinner -- in restaurants or hotels, bringing an increase of 25 percent of income of this sector. In Nanjing, 1.2 million people had their most important dinner of a year in restaurant, 200,000 more than last year's holidays.
Retailers also earned a lot from firecrackers, jewelry, high-end electric appliances and mobile phones during the period.
Lots of migrant workers returned to their hometowns for the festival, doubling the sales of cigarette, wine, non-staple food and clothes to rural markets. The retail sales in Chongqing, Hebei, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Shanxi grow 15 percent to 18 percent during the holiday.
The national holiday office, a government body which coordinates the affairs related to holiday travel, traffic and safety, said the amounts of tourists and travel income both grow 10 percent from last year.
The golden holiday appeared to be the safest one ever, with only three people dead in a traffic accident in Yunnan Province and a Chinese tourist drowned while traveling overseas.
The complaints from tourists decreased to 135 to the office this year.
China started its weeklong golden holiday practice in October, 2000. It has three weeklong holidays a year during the Spring Festival, Labor Day and the National Day.
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