FILE: China - 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of car dealership, customers
2. Various of home appliance store, customers
3. People making payment in restaurant
4. People in shoe store
5. Various of people in VR glasses store
6. Various of people shopping, applying for tax refund
7. Aerial shot of outdoor concert
8. Aerial shot of people in shopping street
9. Various of staff member selling lobsterling
10. People fishing
11. Various of people in garden

China's consumer market maintained stable performance in the first four months of 2026, as a raft of incentive policies continued to take effect, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In April, demand for green and smart products remained robust. The latest official data from the ministry show that sales of smart glasses on major monitored platforms surged 5.9-fold year on year in the month, while sales of handheld cameras rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier. The country's new energy vehicle market penetration rate reached 61.4 percent in April, exceeding 60 percent for the first time.

Growth in rural consumption outpaced that of urban areas in the first four months. Retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas increased by 2.8 percent year on year during this period, 1 percentage point higher than the growth recorded in urban areas.

Inbound consumption continued to heat up, as China expanded visa-free policies and further optimized its departure tax refund policies. In the January-April period, departure tax-refund sales in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, both in south China's economically developed Guangdong Province, surged 186 percent and 145 percent year on year, respectively.

Previously released official data showed that China's retail sales of consumer goods, a key gauge of the country's consumption strength, expanded 1.9 percent year on year in the January-April period of 2026.