CHINA’S consumer spending reported robust growth in the first three quarters of 2023, with rapid expansion registered in services consumption, official data showed yesterday. The retail sales of consumer goods, a major gauge of consumption strength, went up 6.8% year on year in the first nine months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. Total retail sales of consumer goods stood at 34.21 trillion yuan (US$4.77 trillion) in this period, according to the NBS. In September alone, retail sales rose 5.5% year on year, the data revealed. China’s consumption rebounded and recovered in the first three quarters of 2023 with the economy back on track and a raft of pro-consumption policies having taken effect, Sheng Laiyun, deputy head of the NBS, told a press conference yesterday. Consumption contributed 83.20% to China’s economic growth in the first three quarters of the year, Sheng said, highlighting that consumer spending on services had registered a rapid increase and provided an important underpinning for growth. In the first three quarters, retail sales of services surged 18.9% year on year. NBS data showed that retail of goods rose 5.5% from a year ago in the period, while the revenue of the catering sector increased by 18.7% year on year. (Xinhua) | 