The Ministry of Commerce released the operation of the consumer market and the promotion of consumption in 2020.

Firmly implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand and accelerate the release of consumption potential-the operation of consumer market and the work of promoting consumption in 2020

2020 is an extraordinary year. Faced with the severe impact of the complicated domestic and international environment, especially the COVID-19 epidemic, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core, the Ministry of Commerce has conscientiously implemented the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, firmly implemented the strategy of expanding domestic demand, coordinated epidemic prevention and control and consumption promotion, promoted consumption recovery and potential release, promoted the formation of a strong domestic market, and provided support for building a new development pattern. Consumption showed a steady recovery trend. In August, the growth rate of social zero total turned from negative to positive, and then it maintained positive growth for five consecutive months, showing the strong resilience and vitality of China’s domestic demand market.

I. Operation of the Consumer Market in 2020

The epidemic in COVID-19 has caused unprecedented impact on the consumer market. In January and February, the total amount of social welfare dropped by 20.5% year-on-year, the biggest drop since the reform and opening up. With the major strategic achievements in epidemic prevention and control in China, policies and measures such as expanding domestic demand and promoting consumption have gradually taken effect, and the consumer market has steadily recovered and continued to pick up. In the fourth quarter, the total amount of social zero increased by 4.6% year-on-year, and the growth rate was 3.7 percentage points faster than that in the third quarter; Consumption boosted economic growth by 2.6 percentage points, up 1.2 percentage points from the third quarter. The total social zero in the whole year was 39.2 trillion yuan, down 3.9% from the previous year, and the decline was 7.5 percentage points narrower than that in the first half of the year; The final consumption rate is 54.3%, and consumption is still the ballast stone for economic and stable operation. Mainly presents the following characteristics:

First, commodity consumption continued to pick up and the consumption structure was constantly optimized. The annual retail sales of commodities decreased by 2.3%, which was 6.4 percentage points narrower than that in the first half of the year. Among them, it increased by 5.2% in December, and it has been growing for six consecutive months; Among the 15 categories of commodities of units above designated size, 14 categories are growing, and the growth rate of 7 categories exceeds 10%, among which upgraded commodities such as communication equipment, gold, silver and jewelry, and household appliances are increasing by 21%, 11.6% and 11.2% respectively. Green, smart and healthy goods are selling well, and Guochao brand is sought after. The annual automobile sales volume was 25.31 million, ranking first in the world for 12 consecutive years, among which the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 1.367 million, an increase of 10.9%; The shipment of 5G mobile phones was 163 million units, accounting for 52.9% of the total mobile phone shipments; The sales of some e-commerce platforms such as large-screen smart TVs, large-capacity fresh-keeping refrigerators, sterilization air conditioners, washing and drying machines, disinfection kitchen appliances, fitness equipment, flowers and other products have more than doubled.

Second, catering consumption recovered steadily, and service consumption gradually picked up. The annual catering revenue decreased by 16.6%, which was 16.2 percentage points narrower than that in the first half of the year. Among them, it increased by 0.4% in December, and the growth rate rebounded by 1 percentage point from last month, and the consumption scale basically returned to the same period of last year; The catering revenue of units above designated size increased by 3.6%, which was positive for four consecutive months. The majority of catering enterprises actively responded to the impact of the epidemic, enriched and upgraded dishes, innovated online and offline business models, and accelerated the development of online ordering and semi-finished products take-out. The consumption of tourism, culture, entertainment and other services has gradually picked up. The number of national tourists in the "Eleventh" Golden Week has recovered to 79% over the same period of last year, and the degree of recovery has increased by 25.5 percentage points compared with the "May 1" holiday; The average monthly movie box office in the fourth quarter increased by 37% compared with the average monthly level in August-September.

Third, new consumption has developed rapidly, and online and offline integration has accelerated. Online shopping, non-contact distribution, live delivery, online education, online medical care, online entertainment, online fitness and other new formats and new models have developed rapidly, which have played an important role in epidemic prevention, helping to resume work and production, promoting consumption recovery and stabilizing the economy. In 2001, the online retail sales of physical goods reached 9.8 trillion yuan, up 14.8% against the trend, accounting for 24.9% of the total social zero. The express delivery business reached 83.36 billion pieces, and the live broadcast of e-commerce exceeded 20 million. China has become the largest online retail market in the world for eight consecutive years. Physical retail enterprises accelerate digital transformation, vigorously develop online sales and home-to-home business, and accelerate online and offline integration. Large-scale e-commerce platforms actively develop C2M reverse customization, empower upstream industries, and carry out flexible manufacturing to meet personalized and diversified consumer needs.

Fourth, the market supply has been continuously optimized, and consumption abroad has accelerated its return. The quality of domestic goods has been continuously improved, the import channels have been continuously broadened, the duty-free shopping policy has been continuously improved, and the epidemic situation has affected residents’ exit, so the return of consumption abroad is obvious. The annual import volume of consumer goods reached 1.57 trillion yuan, up 8.2% year-on-year, 8.9 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of imports; It accounted for 11% of imports, up about 1 percentage point from the previous year. Among them, the import of meat, jewelry and cosmetics increased by more than 30%, and the import of luggage and watches increased by more than 20%. Cross-border e-commerce retail imports continued to maintain rapid growth. Hainan implemented the new policy of duty-free shopping on outlying islands, and the annual sales of duty-free shops reached 32.74 billion yuan, an increase of 1.27 times over the previous year.

Fifth, the urban and rural markets resumed simultaneously, and some areas turned from negative to positive. The retail sales of urban and rural consumer goods decreased by 4% and 3.2% respectively in the whole year, which was 7.5 and 7.7 percentage points narrower than that in the first half of the year. The rapid development of rural e-commerce has promoted the steady recovery of rural consumption, unblocked the upward channels of agricultural products, and helped to get rid of poverty. From January to November, the rural online retail sales reached 1.59 trillion yuan, up 9.5% year-on-year; The online retail sales of agricultural products reached 359.35 billion yuan, an increase of 30.2%. In some areas, the total amount of social welfare in the whole year achieved positive growth, among which Guizhou, Jiangxi and Anhui increased by 4.9%, 3.0% and 2.6% respectively, while Chongqing, Hainan and Shanghai increased by 1.3%, 1.2% and 0.5% respectively. In other areas, the decline narrowed in different degrees, with the decline in Heilongjiang, Hubei and Shanxi narrowing by 13.6, 13.3 and 12.3 percentage points respectively compared with the first half of the year.

Sixth, consumer prices are generally stable, and the increase in food prices has dropped. Consumer prices rose by 2.5% in the whole year, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous year. The core price index excluding food and energy rose by 0.8%, which remained within a reasonable operating range. Grain production has achieved another bumper harvest, pig production has accelerated its recovery, and the increase in food prices has dropped significantly. In December, food prices rose by 1.2% year-on-year, which was 19.4 percentage points lower than that in January, among which pork prices fell by 1.3% year-on-year.

Second, the main work carried out in 2020

In 2020, the Ministry of Commerce will resolutely implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, firmly implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand, coordinate epidemic prevention and control and consumption promotion, and take various measures to promote consumption recovery and potential release. Mainly carried out the following work:

The first is to increase urban consumption. Deepen the renovation and upgrading of pedestrian streets, confirm five national demonstration pedestrian streets, and identify 12 pedestrian streets to carry out the second batch of pilot projects. In 2020, the passenger flow and turnover of the pilot pedestrian streets in the "Eleventh" Golden Week will increase by 14.3% and 19.2% respectively. Accelerate the cultivation and construction of international consumption center cities, and guide key cities to try first and explore actively. Efforts will be made to promote the branding, chaining and intelligent development of convenience stores. In the first three quarters of 2020, 12,000 brand chain convenience stores were opened nationwide, with a total of 167,000 stores, and sales increased by about 5% year-on-year.

The second is to expand rural consumption. Promote e-commerce into rural areas, expand coverage, improve the three-level logistics distribution system in counties and villages, guide and support large-scale circulation enterprises to sink the supply chain with the focus on towns and villages, and improve the two-way circulation efficiency of agricultural products into cities and industrial products to the countryside. In 2020, e-commerce will support 235 new demonstration counties and 1,338 counties, and 2,120 county-level e-commerce public service centers and logistics distribution centers and 137,000 village-level e-commerce service stations will be built. Improve the supply chain of agricultural products, support the construction of primary processing facilities and cold chain logistics distribution centers of agricultural products, improve the circulation efficiency of agricultural products and reduce the circulation cost.

The third is to stabilize commodity consumption. We will promote the introduction of policies and measures to stabilize automobile consumption and boost mass consumption, promote the development of the used car trading market, issue the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Management Measures for the Recycling of Scrap Motor Vehicles, carry out activities of new energy vehicles going to the countryside in conjunction with relevant departments, encourage qualified areas to increase the number plate of automobiles, implement subsidies for new car purchases, relax restrictions on pickup trucks entering the city, and release automobile consumption potential. In conjunction with relevant departments, we will introduce policies and measures to improve the recycling system of used household appliances, promote the renewal of household appliances consumption, guide local governments to carry out activities such as household appliances consumption festival and household appliances benefiting the people, encourage qualified areas to implement subsidies for green smart household appliances, carry out trade-in of household appliances, and promote household appliances consumption.

The fourth is to develop service consumption. In conjunction with relevant departments, formulate guiding opinions on the prevention and control of catering service epidemic situation, actively coordinate the introduction of tax reduction and fee reduction, rent reduction and other support policies, and promote the resumption and development of catering industry. Improve norms and standards, and resolutely stop food and beverage waste. Carry out a series of activities of "Thousands of Foods and Foods" to boost food and beverage consumption. Improve the credit information platform for domestic service, and introduce support policies with relevant departments to consolidate and expand the achievements of domestic poverty alleviation.

Fifth, innovation promotes consumption activities. Together with the Central Radio and Television General Station, the National Consumption Promotion Month was organized, and more than 3000 large-scale activities were organized in more than 200 cities. During the activities, the total consumption in the country reached 4.24 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.7% from the previous month. The second "Double-product Online Shopping Festival" was held, achieving sales of 182.5 billion yuan, up 1.37 times compared with the first one, driving the national online retail sales to exceed 430 billion yuan in the same period, up 20.8% year-on-year. Strengthen local experience summary and publicity, and guide all localities to do a good job in promoting consumption at the end of the year and the beginning of the year according to local conditions.

III. Work considerations for 2021

In 2021, the development of consumer market not only has many favorable conditions and positive factors, but also faces many difficulties and challenges. The Ministry of Commerce will adhere to the guidance of the Supreme Leader’s Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought in the New Era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference, base itself on the new development stage, implement the new development concept, build a new development pattern, adhere to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand, make efforts to open up blocking points, fill shortcomings, comprehensively promote consumption, improve the modern circulation system, effectively enhance the basic role of consumption in economic development, and continuously meet the people’s growing needs for a better life. Focus on the following four aspects:

The first is to improve the traditional consumption level. Promote the consumption of commodities, promote the transformation of consumer goods such as automobiles from purchase management to use management, deepen the "streamline administration, delegate power, strengthen regulation and improve services" reform in the field of automobile circulation, and encourage qualified areas to carry out the trade-in of automobiles, household appliances and furniture. Expand service consumption, develop community life service, boost catering consumption, and promote the upgrading and expansion of domestic service. Develop rural consumption, expand the coverage of e-commerce in rural areas, strengthen the construction of logistics sites in villages, encourage qualified circulation enterprises to sink channels, and support the construction of township business centers.

The second is to accelerate the cultivation of new consumption. Support traditional commercial enterprises to use information technologies such as 5G, big data and Internet of Things, accelerate digitalization, intelligent transformation and cross-border integration, and better meet personalized and customized consumer demand. Encourage the development of new consumption patterns and new formats and promote online and offline integration. Improve the new consumption development environment, improve relevant norms and standards, and strengthen the construction of the credit system.

The third is to optimize the consumption upgrade platform. Accelerate the cultivation and construction of international consumption center cities, steadily and orderly promote the pilot reform and upgrading of pedestrian streets, and create an important carrier to lead the upgrading of urban consumption. Create a new community convenience life circle, promote convenience service facilities into the community, and build and transform a number of convenience service facilities such as breakfast shops and vegetable markets to make urban life more warm. Run the 4th Import Expo and the 1st China International Consumer Goods Expo well.

The fourth is to improve the modern circulation system. Promote the construction of a modern commercial and trade circulation system, unblock the "artery" of the circulation network, open up the "microcirculation" of urban and rural circulation, further improve the circulation efficiency, reduce the circulation cost, and unblock the domestic circulation. Promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade, build a high-level open platform, improve the ability to make overall use of the two resources in the domestic and international markets, and promote the domestic and international double cycle.