Consumer confidence soars in Nielsen index

The index reached 111 points, ending the year three points higher than it started and five points higher than the same period in 2012, according to the survey's findings.

"The strong increase in Chinese consumer confidence is mainly due to stabilized GDP growth, a resilient labor market and steady household income growth," said Yan Xuan, president of Nielsen Greater China.

Key factors were better job prospects and stronger purchase intentions, which saw a rise of 3 percentage points and 4 percentage points, respectively, Yan added.

In the fourth quarter, 47 percent of people were more willing to spend, the highest since the second quarter of 2010, while 75 percent described job prospects as rosy, the highest since the second quarter of 2012.

"Besides the 8.1 percent of combined growth in disposable income among Chinese consumers, the well-controlled CPI and the shopping sprees in the last quarter all helped boost Chinese consumers' willingness to spend," said Patrick Dodd, managing director of Nielsen China.

Amid the 2.6 percent of CPI growth in 2013, Nielsen's survey also indicated that, compared with the third quarter of last year, the number respondents expecting a rise in overall prices over the next 12 months had dropped by 12 percentage points to 63 percent, while 34 percent of them said they expect prices to stay the same, an increase of 16 percentage points.

"It builds up a good foundation for future spending as long as the CPI growth rate can be kept at a low level," Yan said. "At the same time, the continued rise in the minimum wage, as mandated by many local governments across the country, has put more cash in people's pockets and raised their willingness to spend."

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