Chinese demand and purchasing power are always amazing, and have proven to be enough to support the country's robust economic growth.

According to statistics from the China Commercial Information Center, 100 key retailers across the country realized combined sales of 2.1 billion yuan (US$254 million) during the week-long Spring Festival holidays.

Data from the monitoring network under the Ministry of Commerce showed that sales rose by 16.9 percent year-on-year.

Retail sales at 114 Beijing retailers added up to over 1 billion yuan (US$121 million), a rise of 8 percent during the holiday.

More than 3,000 outlets of Shanghai's 263 large- and medium-sized retailers sold goods worth 2.43 billion yuan (US$294 million), increasing by 10.4 percent.

Retail sales in Xi'an in China's western region grew by 14 percent in that period, and those in Wuhan in Central China rose 12.2 percent.

Retailers are enjoying the Lunar New Year as local residents spent more than ever this Spring Festival on dining out, as well as purchasing high-end electrical appliances and expensive jewelry.

The Shanghai Economic Commission reported that the city's 105 biggest restaurants and hotels served New Year's Eve dinners to 10,453 tables of customers, an increase of 4.4 percent from last year.

Revenues from that night hit 12.7 million yuan (US$1.53 million), up 9.4 percent from last year, with an average table paying 1,214 yuan (US$147) for the meal.

Sofitel Hyland Hotel, a four-star hotel on Nanjing Road, said dinner sales jumped by 136.6 percent on New Year's Eve.

The commission also reported that monkey-shaped gold jewelry and statues were a popular gift to mark the beginning of the Year of the Monkey.

Food sales jumped by 40.6 percent year-on-year in the seven days, sales of watches and clocks saw sales go up 24 percent and home appliance retailers saw sales rise by 21 percent, the commission said.

In Beijing, restaurants not only reaped profits from dinner sales but also in sales of ready-to-cook foods.

Feng Zeyuan, an old-branded Beijing Restaurant, saw its sales of ready-for-cook foods hit 1.5 million yuan (US$181,200) in the Spring Festival holidays.

Li Xihua, professor at the Commercial Economic Research Institution, said the Spring Festival shopping spree just gave a small glimpse of the strong domestic demand.

He believes increasing demand will provide a large push to China's rapid economic growth.

Chinese mainland tourists also brought their wallets to Hong Kong and Macao.

Some 2,000 mainland tour groups visited Hong Kong during the Spring Festival holiday, according to the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council.

The figure does not include individual visitors, believed to be around 270,000.

A survey by ACNielsen shows that shopping in Hong Kong is the No. 1 choice for residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

(China Daily February 2, 2004)