China's consumer confidence increases in August.................
chinadaily.net
Index shows new rise in consumers' confidence
CHINESE consumers' confidence regarding their income growth and the country's overall economic performance has reversed its declining trend seen in the first seven months of the year, according to a new index released by the China Economic Monitoring and Analysis Centre.
The starting point of the Robust Consumer Confidence Index was December 1997, when the index was set at 100 points, said Qiu Xiaohua, the centre's director and chief economist. The centre is a research institution under the State Statistic Bureau.
Qiu said during a press conference on Thursday that expectations regarding the slowing growth of the country's economy and personal incomes had driven the index on a falling trend in the first few months of the year.
The index hit 85.9 points in July but rebounded to 89.4 last month.
The index was based on surveys undertaken in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an and Wuhan -- the six biggest cities on the Chinese mainland. In each of the cities, 700 consumers aged 15 or over were polled.
Answers given by the respondents and the index based on their answers can be used to foretell the consumers' activity in the future, Qiu said.
The survey found that 41 per cent of the respondents believed the Chinese economy will prosper in the coming several years, while 13 per cent thought the economy will fall into the doldrums.
One third of the respondents anticipated better incomes in the coming 12 months, while 13 per cent expected lower incomes, the survey found.
Qiu said the consumers' recovering confidence indicated the growth of domestic consumption may accelerate in the remaining part of the year. (CD News)
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Date: 09/05/98
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