In the first quarter of this year, China's domestic consumer market achieved a stable start, driven by both policy support and structural upgrading. In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 4.6% year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 1.1 percentage points compared to the whole of the previous year. Among them, the growth rate in March reached 5.9%, hitting a new high in nearly 18 months. Final consumption expenditure contributed 2.8 percentage points to GDP growth, and its fundamental role in economic development was further consolidated. Per capita consumption expenditure of residents increased by 5.2% year-on-year. In March, the cumulative retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats and needle and textile products (including home textiles) increased by 3.4% year-on-year, up by 0.9 percentage points compared with the same period of the previous year.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the domestic sales output value of large-scale home textile enterprises increased by 12.7% year-on-year in the first two months of this year. During the peak consumption period of traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival, large-scale home textile enterprises have maintained a growth rate of over 12% in the first two months for two consecutive years. The domestic sales output value declined in March, resulting in a 2.24% year-on-year decrease in the domestic sales output value of household textiles above designated size in the first quarter. Among the major categories, large-scale enterprises in the bedding industry maintained a year-on-year growth of 1.56% in the first quarter. However, the fabric industry witnessed a significant decline on the basis of an overall high level in the previous year. In the first quarter, the domestic sales output value of large-scale enterprises decreased by 18.75% year-on-year. The number of towel enterprises above designated size decreased by 12.04% year-on-year.
Under the guidance of a series of policies issued by relevant state departments to continuously and comprehensively create a relaxed business environment and stimulate residents' consumption, the home textile industry is gradually making timely structural adjustments towards new highlights such as green and intelligent consumption, service consumption and cultural and creative consumption. It is making good use of government subsidy policies, improving consumption performance, deeply integrating the online and offline coordinated development model, and stimulating effective industry demand. Become a new driving force for the growth of domestic sales of enterprises in the industry.
Overall, in the first quarter of this year, the home textile industry continued to maintain its development resilience amid changes and adjustments in the domestic and international macro environment. The growth rate of the industry's operation slowed down but remained stable overall. Actively expand overseas layout to cope with uncertainties in the external environment; Led by technological innovation, further optimizing structural adjustment, reducing costs and increasing efficiency, stimulating new quality productivity in the industry, and achieving transformation and upgrading are the main directions for the industry in the next step.
China's domestic consumer market achieved a stable start in the first quarter of this year
