China’s first quarter online retail sales expand, with travel sector doubling
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China’s online retail market expanded in the first quarter, with online retail sales rising 12.4% year on year to 3.3 trillion yuan ($456 billion). The growth was driven by rebounds in sectors such as online travel and robust cross-border e-commerce trade. Online travel nearly doubled year-on-year growth in the quarter, while the online food category grew 27.8%. Sales of smart wearable gadgets jumped 30.9% year on year, and online retail sales of agricultural products grew 28.2%. Cross-border e-commerce expanded 9.6% in the first quarter, reaching 577.6 billion yuan. The Chinese government has encouraged consumers to trade-in and upgrade their existing home appliances and vehicles to boost domestic demand and consumption. The State Council announced a goal of raising the recycling volume of old home appliances by 30% by 2027. China had a total of 336 million cars at the end of 2023. The growth in online retail sales and cross-border e-commerce is seen as a positive sign for China's post-Covid recovery.
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