Ministry of Commerce: In the next step, we will closely combine benefiting people's livelihoods with promoting consumption to continuously unleash the potential and vitality of consumption.

On January 22nd, the Ministry of Commerce held a routine press conference. The spokesperson, He Yongqian, stated that by 2025, China's consumer market will maintain a steady development trend, with both scale and quality seeing double improvements, and the continuous manifestation of the advantage of a super-large scale market. Overall, the characteristics of the consumer market for the whole year can be summarized with three keywords: expansion, benefit, and quality improvement. In 2025, the total retail sales of consumer goods surpassed the 50 trillion yuan mark for the first time, reaching 50.1 trillion yuan, a 3.7% increase from the previous year, with consumer spending contributing 52% to economic growth. As for the next steps, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to closely integrate benefiting the people and promoting consumption, employing a dual-drive approach of "policy + activities" to continually unleash the potential and vitality of consumption. The original text is as follows: The Ministry of Commerce held a routine press conference (January 22, 2026) He Yongqian: Members of the press: Good afternoon, welcome to the Ministry of Commerce's routine press conference. Today, I do not have any information to report to you all. Now, please ask your questions. 21st Century Business Herald Reporter: We noticed that recent statistical data show that the total retail sales of consumer goods in China exceeded 50 trillion yuan in 2025. Could the spokesperson introduce the highlights and characteristics of the consumer market? He Yongqian: In 2025, China's consumer market maintained a steady development trend, with both scale and quality seeing double improvements, and the advantage of a super-large scale market continues to manifest. Overall, the characteristics of the consumer market for the whole year can be summarized with three keywords: First is expansion. In 2025, the total retail sales of consumer goods surpassed the 50 trillion yuan mark for the first time, reaching 50.1 trillion yuan, a 3.7% increase from the previous year, with consumer spending contributing 52% to economic growth. Second is benefiting the people. Last year, we vigorously implemented the trade-in program for consumer goods, driving sales of related categories to reach 2.61 trillion yuan, benefiting 366 million people with tangible benefits. Retail sales of household appliances, furniture, cultural office supplies, and communication equipment above the quota increased by 11%, 14.6%, 17.3%, and 20.9% respectively. Third is quality improvement. New types of consumption such as green and smart are thriving. In 2025, the retail sales of new energy vehicles increased by 17.6%, with penetration rates continuing to rise, and by the end of 2025, for every 10 passenger cars sold, 6 were new energy vehicles. Business data shows that in 2025, the number of consumers purchasing grade-1 energy-efficient or water-efficient household appliances increased by 20% compared to the previous year, while smart glasses, smart watches, and smart wristbands all grew by over 40%. Health consumption continues to expand, with retail sales of sports and entertainment products increasing by 15.7%. Next, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to closely integrate benefiting the people and promoting consumption, employing a dual-drive approach of "policy + activities" to continually unleash the potential and vitality of consumption. Thank you.