China's gross consumer goods retail sales hit 300 billion yuan
(US$37.5 billion) during the "Golden Week" holiday (Oct.1-7), up
14.5 percent on the same period of last year, according to the
Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).
A survey released Saturday by the MOFCOM showed that consumers
had plenty of choice. Products such as mobile phones, liquid
crystal TV sets, digital devices, jewellery and seasonal fashions
were among the bestsellers.
China has three week-long breaks each year, called "golden
weeks", which take place at Spring Festival, the May 1
International Labor Day and the October 1 National Day. The Chinese
government launched "golden weeks" in 1999, hoping that the long
holidays would encourage people to spend more money and help push
economic growth.
What is special about this year's National Day holiday is that
the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of China's most important festivals,
fell on October 6, coinciding with Golden Week. As a result, more
people traveled to family reunions to celebrate the festival and
many new couples chose to hold their weddings during the
holiday.
In Beijing alone some 20,000 weddings were held around the
holiday period, according to the China Committee of Wedding Service
Industries.
There was intense travel and transport activity during the
holiday. The railways carried a record 5.18 million passengers on
Oct. 1, the first day of the country's week-long National Day
holiday, said an official with the Ministry of Railways.
(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2006)
