China's retail and food service enterprises have posted total sales revenues of around 1.5 trillion yuan ($226.3 billion) during the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, known as the Golden Week, with the daily sales volume surging 10.3 percent compared with the same period last year, according to a statement on the website of the Ministry of Commerce on Monday.
The increase was boosted by innovative technology such as mobile payment as well as the sharing economy, including shared bikes, automobiles and books, making domestic consumers' shopping and travel experience more convenient and flexible, said the statement. Innovative marketing strategies that combined offline and online sales channels also helped lift the sales revenue.
During the Golden Week, sales of high-quality products were a notable feature. For example, in Southwest China's Yunan Province and Northwest Chi-na's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, sales of home appliances such as smart TVs, energy-effi-cient refrigerators and air cleaner increased by 31.4 percent and 19.9 percent, respectively, the statement said.
In the tourism market, niche areas like red tourism are gaining momentum among Chinese consumers.
As of Saturday, exhibitions in Beijing highlighting the country's achievements over the past five years have attracted 300,000 visitors, the statement noted. And from October 1 to October 5, red tourism areas in Southwest China's Sichuan Province have handled 1.04 million tourists.
The eight-day holidays saw a total of 705 million people making journeys, up 11.9 percent year-on-year, according to figures released by the China National Tourism Administration on Sunday. Revenue in the domestic tourism market also rose by 13.9 percent year-on-year to 583.6 billion yuan during the same period.
Airlines dealt with 12.95 million passengers during the holidays, up 14.6 percent year-on-year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Monday. And a total of 561 million road trips were made during the holidays, basically the same as last year, the Ministry of Transport said Sunday.
