Impact of COVID-19 on Chinese market sales short-term, external: official

(ECNS) -- China's market sales will go through the impact brought by the pandemic, but it is generally short-term and external, and the recovery of consumption enjoys more favorable conditions now, said a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.

The trend of expanding consumption scale and upgraded consumption mix will remain unchanged in the middle and long term, said Fu Linghui, the spokesperson, at a press conference.

With 1.4 billion population and per capita GDP exceeding $ 10,000, China is seeing a huge potential in consumption, Fu said.

With the gradual recovery of the economy, there will be increasing employment and income, which will enhance consumption capacity and willingness, he added.

Since the beginning of this year, China has actively promoted traditional and new forms of consumption, and the outcome gradually appeared, the spokesperson said.

"We have seen that the recent growth of automobile consumption has maintained a relatively rapid speed, thanks to related policies," he noted.

With the widespread application of information technology, big data, and artificial intelligence, new consumption models are emerging. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, online education, remote conferences, and online medical care have developed rapidly and livestreaming marketing has injected new vitality into consumption, Fu said.