(CFP Photo)

Jiangsu’s total retail sales of consumer goods in January and February amounted to 807.06 billion yuan, an increase of 6.1% year-on-year, and the growth is 1.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year, as reported by the province’s Department of Statistics.

This stable recovery and growth resulted from various measures taken by the province to stimulate spending and develop new forms of consumption, both online and offline.

Notably, the province experienced steady growth in rural residents' income, continuous enhancement of rural market supply, a travel peak during the Spring Festival holiday, and booming rural tourism.

During these two months, retail sales of consumer goods in the province’s rural areas grew by 7.4% year-on-year, which is 1.5 percentage points higher than the growth in urban areas.

Specifically, year-on-year increases were seen in the retail sales of grain, oil and food (8.5%), beverages (3.9%), tobacco and alcohol (23.5%), clothing (11%), daily necessities (2.2%) and automobiles (8.9%). In addition, the category of gold, silver and jewelry saw a retail sales growth of 17.2%, driven by the increased demand over the holiday period and rising prices, which is 8.2 percentage points higher compared to the annual growth in 2023.