China's February consumer confidence rebounds
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Chinese consumers' confidence slightly rebounded month on month in February on lower food prices and a shopping spree on non-daily essential goods during the Spring Festival holiday, according to an index reading released Wednesday.
The Bankcard Consumer Confidence Index (BCCI), compiled by Xinhua News Agency and China UnionPay, a Chinese banking card industry association, rose to 86.04 points in February this year, up 0.51 points from January.
But the figure was down 0.59 points from the same period last year.
With the traditional Spring Festival season over and onset of warmer weather, food prices edged down due to weakening demand and stronger supply, said the February BCCI report.
The report said the wholesale price index of agricultural products had dropped to 186.26 last month, down nearly 5 percent from the January level, citing figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.
The report also attributed the increase in the index on consumers' rising expenditure on non-essential items during the holiday season, especially those not affected by inflation such as gold jewelry.
According to the BCCI figure, in February, bankcard transactions for jewelry accounted 3.7 percent of the total amount, up 1.5 percentage points from a month ago.
The report noted that further property market tightenings and continued government measures to curb consumer prices and restrain liquidity had eased consumers' concern over rapid price growth and attributed to the rebound in consumer confidence.
Xinhua News Agency and China UnionPay jointly began compiling the BCCI Index in April 2009 based on bankcard transaction data and analysis of structural changes in urban consumption.
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