The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
BEIJING, China — China's retail sales would reach about 48 trillion yuan ($6.99 trillion) by 2020, with average annual retail sales growth at 10 percent, the country's Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday.
E-commerce trade volume is also projected to grow at an average annual rate of about 15 percent in 2016-2020, according to a five-year plan for the country's domestic trade posted on the ministry's website.
Beijing has pledged to transform the economy into one more reliant on consumption than exports, and cut overcapacity in industrial sectors, amid stubbornly weak external demand.
The plan laid out nine "major tasks" to achieve the growth targets, such as pushing bricks-and-mortar businesses to transform and innovate, and modernising traditional sectors such as agriculture.
ADVERTISEMENT
Domestic consumption will contribute significantly more to China's economic growth during 2016-2020, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
China's total retail sales stood at 30.1 trillion yuan ($4.38 trillion) by 2015, with an average growth rate for the 2011-2015 period at 13.8 percent, the ministry said.
Disappointing retail sales figures in October raised some concerns around domestic consumption as sales growth cooled to a five-month low of 10.0 percent from 10.7 percent in September, official data showed on Monday.
But a spokesman from the statistics bureau insisted the growth in consumption is stable and there is no problem in achieving this year's GDP growth targets.
By Yawen Chen; editor: Shri Navaratnam.
As the German sportswear giant taps surging demand for its Samba and Gazelle sneakers, it’s also taking steps to spread its bets ahead of peak interest.
A profitable, multi-trillion dollar fashion industry populated with brands that generate minimal economic and environmental waste is within our reach, argues Lawrence Lenihan.
RFID technology has made self-checkout far more efficient than traditional scanning kiosks at retailers like Zara and Uniqlo, but the industry at large hesitates to fully embrace the innovation over concerns of theft and customer engagement.
The company has continued to struggle with growing “at scale” and issued a warning in February that revenue may not start increasing again until the fourth quarter.