Shanghai tops in per capita consumption expenditure

With 20,112 yuan ($2,869) per capita consumption expenditure, Shanghai took the crown among China's 31 provincial-level regions in the first half, followed by Beijing (18,620 yuan) and Zhejiang province (15,029 yuan), Shanghai Securities News reported.

Shanghai is the only region that saw its per capita consumption expenditure exceed 20,000 yuan. During the first half of this year, the city also recorded the highest per capita disposable income, 36,500 yuan.

Shanghai earlier launched a massive campaign dubbed "May 5 Shopping Festival", as merchants gave shopping coupons to spur online and offline spending.

China's average per capita consumption expenditure stood at 9,718 yuan in the first six months, down 5.9 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Tobacco and alcohol, housing, transportation and communications ranked as the top three consumption categories, accounting for 31.9 percent, 25.4 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively.

A total of nine provincial-level regions, including Hunan, Fujian, Jiangsu, Guangdong provinces and Chongqing and Tianjin municipalities, outperformed the national average.

The COVID-19 epidemic reshaped China's consumption mode to some extent, with online consumption becoming a bright spot in the first half, said Zhao Ping, director of the international trade research department at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Academy.

As merchants gave out shopping coupons to spur consumption, and measures were unveiled to develop the private and nighttime economy, some regions have seen a narrowing of the drop in retail sales growth since the second quarter.

In South China's island province Hainan, thanks to the new duty-free policy, sales of offshore duty-free shopping reached 8.57 billion yuan during the first six months, up 30.7 percent year-on-year.