In January and February this year, Chongqing's total retail sales of social consumer goods reached 225.53 billion yuan (34.59 billion U.S. dollars), according to Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce (CMCC) on March 23. This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 48.5% and 14.7 percentage points higher than the national level, keeping up the steady rise trend since last year. The retail sales of automobiles and household appliances grew by 85.8% and 78.4%, respectively, and the catering revenue increased by 75.8%.

Why can Chongqing achieve such impressive figures in consumption? "Taking a multi-pronged approach to boost consumption holds the key," said a relevant head from CMCC.

Since last year, Chongqing has issued a series of policies and measures, including Notice on Accelerating Developing Circulation to Promote Commercial Consumption and Notice on Further Boosting Consumption and Stabilizing Economic Growth to boost consumption in key and focal fields and advance consumption recovery.

For example, CMCC has coordinated municipal special funds for commercial development to spur auto consumption by encouraging renewal. As a result, Chongqing's car sales invoice value in 2020 rose by 13% year on year. The retail sales of auto enterprises above the designated limit reached 102.01 billion yuan, registering a year-on-year increase of 6.8%.

In 2020, Chongqing's wholesale and retail industries' sales rose by 8.3% and 5.8% year on year, respectively, driving the total retail sales of social consumer goods up by 1.3% to 1,178.72 billion yuan. In terms of the total retail sales of social consumer goods, Chongqing was only second to Shanghai and Beijing nationwide. Chongqing was ranked fourth nationwide with a growth rate 5.2 percentage points higher than the national level in terms of the growth rate.

"To maintain last year's good performance, Chongqing has made a big push this year to spur consumption around the New Year's Day, the Spring Festival and the turn of the year and advance traditional and emerging consumption as well as online and offline consumption at the same time," said the head.

During the Spring Festival period, the footfall of Chongqing's key business areas saw a remarkable rise, and commercial, trade, and catering enterprises made a brisk trade both online and offline. According to the statistics of CMCC, the retail sales of key business areas and commercial and trade enterprises in Chongqing's districts and counties during the week-long Spring Festival holiday totaled 27.41 billion yuan, up 49.9% compared with the same period last year.