Consumer China

Retail sales: Divergent scenarios

  • Published 23 Dec 2009

The return of inflation and the reduced impact of stimulus measures introduced at the start of this year to boost sales may mean a different course for retail spending in 2010.

Retail sales are expected to come in around Rmb 12,510bn ($1,831bn, €1,281bn, £1,144bn) for full 2009, up 15.3% year on year – enviable by global standards, but still down slightly from the 21.6% growth recorded in 2008. Retail growth this year was helped in part through stimulus measures such as purchase tax cuts on autos and subsidy programmes such as the rural appliance scheme, as well as cheap credit, the recovery in share prices and a booming real estate sector.