Shoppers at an imported goods store at the bonded port area of Qingdao, Shandong Province. (Photo by Yu Fangping/For China Daily)
An index measuring China's consumer confidence rose further in the first quarter of 2019, back to its record high in the past 12 months as the economy stabilizes, Nielsen's report showed on Friday.
The country's consumer trend index stood at 115 points in the first quarter this year, up two points from the previous quarter, according to the research by global measurement and data analytics company Nielsen.
Index levels above and below the baseline of 100 indicate consumer optimism and pessimism, respectively. The index measures perceptions of local job prospects, personal finance and willingness to spend.
China's economy beat market expectations to advance 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, remaining flat with the GDP expansion in the previous quarter.
"The national economy continued to operate in a reasonable range in the first three months, laying a solid foundation for the improvement of the consumer trend index we traced," said Andy Zhao, president of Nielsen China.
According to Nielsen's study, among the three factors affecting the index, job prospects saw a substantial increase by climbing five points to 79, while both personal finance and willingness to spend rose three points to 61 and 70, respectively, thanks to the government's efforts of tax reforms.
