Shopping and travel trends during the 2023 Chinese New Year period signal a rebound in consumption and follows the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions from December. We look at the latest data from online retailers and travel platforms and discuss what the changes signify for China’s economy and society.
Travel and consumption in China have experienced a rebound in the first few months of January as people enjoy the first Chinese New Year (CNY) period without COVID-19 restrictions in three years.
Data from online marketplaces show a marked uptick in purchases of goods, services, and travel tickets over the previous year.
The recovery is a positive start to the Year of the Rabbit for the country, which has set its sights on economic recovery and growth in 2023.
Rebound in domestic and international travel
According to a report from Ctrip, one of China’s largest online travel agencies (OTAs), travel over the 2023 CNY period reached a three-year high. Overall travel bookings on the platform, including domestic and international bookings, increase four-fold in the 2023 CNY period from the same period in 2022.
Long-haul and outbound travel in particular saw major increases in bookings thanks to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, including the removal of the quarantine requirement for inbound travelers on January 8. According to Ctrip, overall overseas bookings during the CNY period increased by 640 percent year-on-year. Of this, both overseas hotel bookings and cross-border air tickets increased four-fold from the same period in 2022.
Southeast Asia was high on the list for Chinese travelers, with Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Chiang Mai, Manila, and Bali being the most popular destinations for people traveling abroad.
Domestic travel has also increased from 2022, with long-haul and inter-provincial travel making a rebound. This marks a reversal of the trend of short-haul or surrounding travel that had become increasingly popular during the pandemic, as people looked to avoid the risk of getting stranded far from home under strict COVID prevention rules.
Ticket bookings for famous domestic scenic spots grew 3.2 times year-on-year. Non-first-tier cities with historical and cultural sites, such as Xi’an, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Luoyang, and Kaifeng, also saw an uptick in popularity.
Ticket bookings for famous domestic scenic spots grew 3.2 times year-on-year. Non-first-tier cities with historical and cultural sites, such as Xi’an, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Luoyang, and Kaifeng, also saw an uptick in popularity.
A particularly popular form of tourism during the CNY period was group tours, or in the case of this year’s holiday, “reunion tours”. According to the Ctrip data, orders for group tours during this period were up 4.2 times from the previous year, with an average group size of at least three people. Over 80 percent of the group tour bookings were also for inter-provincial or long-haul travel.
Rise in services consumption
Online sales of goods and services during the 2023 CNY period also appear to have recovered from the pandemic years. According to a report from the online e-commerce platform JD.com, the number of orders placed on Chinese New Year’s eve jumped by 171 percent year-on-year.
In addition, hourly shopping sales increased by 90 percent year-on-year, with the so-called “immediate consumption” (where goods are delivered as soon as an order is placed) becoming an increasingly popular choice for shoppers.
This trend is partly also thanks to the expansion of delivery infrastructure, with JD.com delivering parcels even on new year’s eve and new year’s day, dates on which most businesses are closed.
Meanwhile, spending on gift boxes, which forms part of the tradition of gift-giving during the CNY period, grew 50 percent year-on-year.
The report provides interesting insight into how consumption habits are changing quickly as a result of the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. As has been seen in other parts of the world following the pandemic, people are spending more on services and less on goods.
The turnover of so-called “lifestyle services” (a broad category of services that includes entertainment, sports, education, and medical services, as well as catering and domestic services) increased by 302 percent year-on-year. Other services that saw a jump in popularity included mobile phone guarantee services (up 296 percent year-on-year), home appliance repairs (up 83 percent), battery replacement services (57 percent), and computer installations (53 percent).
In terms of goods, health products proved particularly popular, with the transaction amounts for liquid amino acids, “nutritional wines”, and protein powder increasing by 215 percent, 86 percent, and 70 percent year-on-year respectively.
source: china-briefing
