Bought in China confidence boost for global economic recovery

This year's rosy Singles Day sales figures indicate the resilience and vitality of the domestic consumer market.

China's major e-commerce platforms set new records in this year's Singles Day sales gala that stretched from about one month earlier to Nov 11, during which the total volume of business transactions of Tmall.com was 540.3 billion yuan ($84.72 billion), up 8.45 percent year-on-year, and JD.com 349.1 billion yuan, soaring 28.6 percent year-on-year.

Thanks to the scale and potential of China's consumer market and the robust development of the e-commerce and logistics industries, since it was launched 13 years ago, Singles Day has grown to be the world's largest consumer festival and attracted widespread attention from all over the world.

But it was not just foreign brands that appealed to domestic consumers, many national brands ranging from clothes and electronic products to services such as tourism, leisure and entertainment performed well in the sales gala this year, partly thanks to livestreaming, social networking and short video sharing platforms that have become indispensable sales promotional channels in the Chinese market.

Statistics also show that the consumption gap between different age groups and villages and cities are also becoming smaller, as more elderly people and rural residents, particularly those living in the western parts of the country, have begun using e-commerce, thanks to the penetration of the mobile internet and the expansion of the logistics network.

Also heartening was the more environmentally conscious buying and selling. Consumption is often regarded as increasing carbon emissions and thus one of the important causes of global warming. However, this year's Singles Day promoted green and low-carbon consumption as part of a green lifestyle, with the e-commerce companies paying special attention to promoting energy-efficient household appliances and the logistics companies reducing the use of packing materials and trying their best to increase the use of recyclable packing materials.

Also notable was the effect of the strengthened supervision on the e-commerce industry and the enforcement of the Personal Information Protection Law on Nov 1, which prompted companies to behave themselves in the sales gala and attach more importance to attracting consumers with better services rather than unveracious low prices based on discount tricks.

In a well-regulated market environment, not only are consumers more rational, but more small and micro businesses can enjoy their share of the booming consumer market.

Singles Day should serve to redouble the world's confidence in the prospects of the Chinese economy and the resolve of the policymakers to improve the business environment in China.

BEIJING NEWS