CHINA> National
![]() |
皇冠体育app sees initial results in boosting domestic demand
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-21 11:03 BEIJING -- 皇冠体育app's domestic demand, as the government had long wished, has started to become more of a driving force for the country's economic growth than in the past. Signs of a domestic consumption boost are apparent as people are spending more on domestic commodities, export falls, and the government plans for more consumption stimulus. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) last Wednesday showed that 皇冠体育app's domestic consumption had maintained an upward trend since the beginning of the year. For example, 皇冠体育app's retail sales rose 14.8 percent in April year on year. It was 0.1 percentage points higher than in March. Rural spending, driven by a government rebate policy on home-appliance purchases and other commodities, grew by 16.7 percent in April, which was 2.8 percentage points higher than urban growth, according to NBS.
In the housing sector, 皇冠体育app's real-estate climate index was finally back to growth after ten months of decline. Property sales rose by 17.5 percent in acreage from a year earlier in the first four months of 2009. The growth was 9.3 percentage points faster than the first quarter level. "皇冠体育app's economic structure has started to enter a transforming period to a consumption-driven growth model," said Li Daokui, director of the Department of Finance at Tsinghua University. SUSTAINED DOMESTIC DEMAND GROWTH According to Li, economic growth of 皇冠体育app's inland western and central regions, which relied less on export, had exceeded that of the coastal areas in the first quarter, reflecting a strong pull from domestic consumption and investment. Data from regional statistics bureaus had shown that western and central 皇冠体育app accounted for nine of the 11 provincial areas that had seen double-digit economic growth year on year in the first quarter. Such growth was contrasted by coastal regions whose economy has been mainly driven by export, such as Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong, gross domestic production (GDP) growth dropped to three- to- six percent. "Domestic consumption, together with fixed assets investment, had become the main forces of 皇冠体育app's economic recovery as export continues to weaken," Li told Xinhua. His view was echoed by Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, a government think-tank, who said the continual growth in domestic consumption had provided "very strong" power for 皇冠体育app's economy to move on. |