China has seen a boom in consumption during the Spring Festival holiday, making a good start to 2024, an official with the Ministry of Commerce said on February 22. 

He Yadong, spokesperson for the ministry, said there were many bright spots in the consumption of physical commodities during the holiday. He cited figures from retail enterprises monitored by the ministry, with gold, silver and jewelry sales up 23.8 percent, sports and entertainment products up 15.6 percent, and communication equipment up 10.4 percent. 

Consumption in China's service sectors saw robust growth during the period. Domestic tourists have spent 632.69 billion yuan (about $89 billion), up 47.3 percent year on year, while the national box office during the holiday hit a record high of 8.02 billion yuan, said He. 

The impetus of new consumption was also unleashed. Instant retail sales via e-commerce platforms monitored by the ministry climbed 32.2 percent year on year, and some of the platforms saw the sales of cycling and skiing equipment up by over 50 percent from the previous year, he said. 

The ministry will organize a series of consumption promotion activities and fully implement measures to expand consumption, said He, predicting that the consumer market will see steady growth in the first quarter.