Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - China's Lunar New Year, which began on 10 February under the sign of the Snake registered a jump of about 15% - on an annual basis - in consumption over the week long holiday, especially for jewellery, clothes and food. The festive season - comparable to the Christmas season for the West - sees hundreds of millions of people travelling across the country to be reunited with their families. And, as usual, there was a surge in spending for family dinners and gifts.
According to data provided by the Chinese Ministry for Commerce, sales during the holiday season - which runs Feb. 9 to 15 - increased by 14.7% compared to last year, for a total volume of 539 billion Yuan (over 86 billion US dollars). However, the figure remained below those of last year, the year of the Dragon, when data, reached 16.2% compared to 2011.
In detail, the increases were recorded in the jewellery and luxury goods sectors (+38.1%), food (+9.8%) and beverages (11.2%), while a growth in 'clothing stood at 6.3%. The data coincide with a period of renewed vigour in the Chinese economy, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which accelerated in the final quarter of last year, hitting 7.9% after a previous period of weakness.
In January, the trade surplus of China gained 7.7%, on a yearly basis reaching 29.2 billion dollars, even surpassing analysts' expectations. Meanwhile, inflation in January slowed by 2%, compared to 2.5% in December. The world's second economy - if not the first - showed the lowest growth rate in the last 13 years, with an expansion of 7.8% caused by weakness in domestic consumption and in major foreign markets.