New features changing holiday spending habits

High-end gifts, pricey eateries fall from favor; cinemas see 98% rise in patrons

China's spending during the traditional Spring Festival maintained double-digit growth this year but the pace marked the slowest in more than a decade, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The central government's promotion of frugal dining and restrictions on public spending on high-end gifts and restaurants were mainly to blame. However, a new emphasis on cultural, recreational and tourism spending will continue to set the country's purchasing trends in the near future, a senior commerce expert said.

Data from the ministry showed sales of China's retailers and catering businesses went up 13.3 percent from a year earlier to 610.7 billion yuan ($100.7 billion), during the week-long holiday which lasted from Jan 31 to Feb 6 this year. Gatherings and reunions during the break usually boost spending.

"This year's slowdown of consumption growth during the holiday break was mainly caused by the decline of high-end spending," said Huo Jianguo, president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank at the Ministry of Commerce.

"However, we should feel glad for the slower, but still robust and satisfactory consumption growth during the holiday because it reflected the true purchasing power of ordinary people. Although we don't know the specific share of spending of the public funds, we noticed a remarkable drop this year, which is a good signal," he added.

The central government called for more frugal dining last year and prohibited expenditure on cards, calendars and gifts on public funds at the end of last year.

Affordable and simply packaged products for the festival were especially welcome, while the sales of high-end gifts significantly decreased - by about 70 percent year-on-year in many wine stores in Fuzhou, Fujian province, and 40 percent in some cigarette and wine retailers in Luoyang, Henan province, according to a news release on the website of the ministry.

Electronic gadgets and jewelry remained the major targets of the festival holiday shopping. The sales of digital products, such as personal computers and cell phones, doubled in Hebei and Anhui provinces, and jumped 61 percent year-on-year in Gansu province. As 2014 is the Year of the Horse, horse-featured gold and silver jewelry became hot products during the holiday. Their sales surged 35 percent year-on-year in Hubei province and 31.6 percent in Liaoning province, said the release.

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