China's retail, catering sales jump in Chinese New Year staycation

Residents wearing masks to protect from the coronavirus visit a popular retail street on the third day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Feb 14, 2021. - AP

BEIJING (Reuters): China's retail and catering sectors enjoyed a bumper Chinese New Year holiday week, with revenues rising almost one-third from 2020 levels, thanks to strong orders from staycationing consumers, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday (Feb 17).

Sales by key retail and catering companies, including online, came in at 821 billion yuan (US$130 billion) from Feb 11-17, the Ministry of Commerce said. That was up 28.7 per cent from the Chinese New Year holiday in 2020, when the coronavirus started to spread in China, and up 4.9 per cent from 2019 levels.