Chongqing - The 2025 New Year holiday has marked a robust start to the year, with booming consumer activity across China. On New Year's Day, Chongqing ranked sixth in in-store consumption volume nationwide, highlighting a vibrant market.

Chongqing’s MixC shopping mall is bustling with people during the New Year Holiday. (Photo/Qiu Xiaoya)

From light shows and iron flower performances to concerts and hot springs, the variety of New Year’s Eve activities captivated audiences across the country. Cities nationwide rolled out themed events and consumer-friendly initiatives to encourage spending. For instance, Beijing hosted 203 cultural events and 226 performances and launched 10 heritage-themed travel routes across Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, offering residents and tourists diverse holiday options. Data from the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau showed that Beijing's department stores, supermarkets, specialty stores, dining establishments, and e-commerce platforms achieved a combined sales revenue of 1.22 billion yuan (about 167 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year growth of 31.5%. Customer traffic in 60 key commercial districts reached 8.059 million visits, up 7.8%.

The dining industry saw extraordinary growth during the holiday, with restaurants bustling in northern and southern China regions. Major dining hubs experienced high demand, with popular restaurants in Beijing and Shanghai fully booked for New Year’s Eve, some reservations made weeks or even months in advance.

Many eateries extended their operating hours and introduced special events to cater to the growing consumer enthusiasm for New Year celebrations. For example, over 1,300 Haidilao outlets across the country hosted New Year countdown events, with approximately 60% achieving more than seven daily table turnovers on December 31.

Businesses nationwide have introduced new products, innovative services, and creative models to ignite consumer enthusiasm and foster a thriving New Year economy. Online platforms played a significant role in boosting consumption, with live streaming sessions offering “red packet rain” and digital coupons attracting millions of viewers. Offline, new retail stores saw high consumer traffic, with long queues outside restaurants and gold shops reporting a noticeable surge in customer flow.

People watch a New Year parade in East China's Shanghai on  January 11, 2025. People across China enjoy themselves in various activities, celebrating the first day of 2025. (Photo/Wang Xiang, Xinhua)

The 2025 New Year holiday underscored a balance of strong supply and demand. Experts highlighted trends such as resource integration, digital transformation, and the popularity of debut products and services as key features of this year’s consumer market.

In Chongqing, the “debut economy” emerged as a key driver of consumption. Meituan data showed that the city ranked sixth nationwide for New Year’s Day in-store consumption. Iconic brands like Domino’s Pizza and tea chain Yulian recently opened their first Chongqing locations, drawing crowds on New Year’s Day and reinforcing the city’s vibrant commercial landscape.

“Whether through new business models, innovative services, or opening flagship stores, the debut economy reflects a city’s commercial vitality, consumer strength, and innovation capacity,” said Li Ran, Director of the Applied Economics Department at Chongqing Technology and Business University.

The bustling New Year holiday sets a promising stage for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. Experts noted that the strong consumer demand during this period serves as a bellwether for the Spring Festival economy. Businesses are expected to adjust their strategies based on New Year sales to better cater to the anticipated demand during this period, ensuring a prosperous start to 2025.