Ministry of Commerce: Total retail sales of consumer goods in July reached 3.88 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.7% year-on-year.

On August 22, the person in charge of the Consumer Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce talked about the situation of China's consumer market in July 2025. In July, the overall development trend of China's consumer market was stable. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of consumer goods in that month amounted to 3.88 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.7% year-on-year, with growth rate 1 percentage point higher than the same period last year. From January to July, the total retail sales of consumer goods in the society reached 28.42 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.8% year-on-year, with service retail sales increasing by 5.2% year-on-year, and goods and services retail sales merging at a growth rate of around 5%. Firstly, the steady growth of goods consumption, with home appliances, furniture, and smartphones continuing to sell well. In July, the retail sales of goods increased by 4.0% year-on-year, with the retail sales of goods by designated units increasing by 3.1%. From January to July, the retail sales of goods increased by 4.9%. The policy of replacing old items with new ones continued to take effect, with the retail sales of home appliances, furniture, communication equipment, and cultural office supplies by designated units increasing by 28.7%, 20.6%, 14.9%, and 13.8% respectively in July. According to data from the China Automobile Dealers Association, the retail sales of passenger cars increased by 6.3% year-on-year in July, with the retail sales of new energy passenger cars increasing by 12.0% and penetration reaching 54%. Upgraded goods maintained rapid growth, with the retail sales of sports and entertainment supplies and gold and silver jewelry by designated units increasing by 13.7% and 8.2% respectively. Secondly, highlights of summer consumption emerged, with strong enthusiasm for cultural, sports, and tourism activities. From January to July, in the service retail sales category, the retail sales of cultural and leisure services, tourism consulting and leasing services, and transportation services maintained double-digit growth. The popularity of summer vacations surged, with platform data showing a significant increase in searches for "summer vacation destinations." Cultural and tourist attractions were favored, with reservations at museums more than doubling year-on-year. The film market was quite lively, with summer box office breaking 100 billion yuan, and a number of high-quality domestic films receiving both critical acclaim and box office success. "Chinese shopping" became a popular term, with the optimization of outbound tax refund policies combined with an expansion of visa-free countries, leading to a substantial increase in inbound consumption. Thirdly, online consumption grew rapidly, and physical retailers accelerated innovation and transformation. From January to July, online retail sales increased by 9.2% year-on-year, with growth accelerating by 0.7 percentage points compared to the previous six months. Among them, the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 6.3%, with an acceleration of 0.3 percentage points, outpacing the total retail sales of consumer goods at the same period by 1.5 percentage points. Physical retail enterprises actively adapted to new trends in consumer development, optimized the supply of goods and services, innovated diverse consumer scenarios, and improved the consumer experience. From January to July, the retail sales of physical stores by designated large-scale retailers increased by 4.2% year-on-year. Among them, the retail sales growth of warehouse member stores continued to exceed 30%; shopping center retail sales increased by 6.4%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared to the first half of the year. This article is based on the official website of the Ministry of Commerce, edited by GMTEight: Liu Jiayin.