Online New Year shopping festival to feature three key events: spokesman

China's National Online New Year Shopping Festival, which runs from Jan 7 to Feb 5, will feature three key events and different online and offline activities to meet consumers' needs during the Spring Festival season, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The shopping festival also aims at promoting traditional Chinese culture and boosting e-commerce sales, said the ministry.

The event marks the first nationwide online sales promotion since the Spring Festival and the social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of traditional new year was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2024, He Yadong, a spokesman for the ministry, noted at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

"This year's national online New Year shopping festival adopts a '3+N' form for the first time. Three key events will be held to involve various localities and platforms in holding more characteristic consumer activities focusing on consumer hotspots related to the Spring Festival in catering, shopping, cultural entertainment and tourism industries," He said.

The three key events are the opening ceremony of the shopping festival, which already took place in east China's Jiangxi Province, a Silk Road e-commerce activity, which will be held for the first time in Shanghai on Jan 22, and the China (Guangxi)-ASEAN Online New Year Shopping Festival, which kicked off on Dec 31 last year, according to He.

This year's New Year shopping festival will focus on the quality of consumer goods and increase the supply of high-quality products and services such as products from time-honored and 'China-chic' brands and online travel services.

"Integrating consumer promotions with cultural communication, various localities will hold exhibitions and performances of intangible cultural heritages and invite intangible cultural heritage inheritors to livestream shows to have consumers experience local Spring Festival customs in an interactive and immersive manner," He said.

The event will also bring in more foreign products delivered directly from overseas factories, according to He.

"Through offline exhibitions and fairs, and livestreaming shows, local specialties will be displayed and promoted comprehensively. Using digital technologies, e-commerce platforms will hold various activities such as 'winter voyage' and 'Spring Festival journey to China,'" He said.

The Spring Festival, the most important traditional festival in China, falls on Jan 29 this year.

Online New Year shopping festival to feature three key events: spokesman

China's warehouse storage sector maintained expansion in March, according to the index released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Thursday.

In March, China's warehousing index reached 50.8 percent, rising by 0.6 percentage points from the previous month and remaining in the expansion zone for the fifth consecutive month.

Driven by policies aimed at promoting consumption, demand for warehousing services continued to grow steadily, with the consumer goods market performing particularly well. Warehousing demand for food, household appliances, textiles, and daily necessities surged, leading to a significant rise in the new order index.

"The warehouse storage sector has remained in the expansion range for five consecutive months, reflecting the overall stability of the warehousing sector. The demand for warehousing in the livelihood consumption sector continues to strengthen, boosting activity across the entire warehousing sector," said Liu Yuhang, director of the China Logistics Information Center.

In terms of inventory levels, the average inventory turnover index reached 54.5 percent in March, an increase of 8.2 percentage points from the previous month, entering the expansion range. Overall, in the first quarter, the warehousing sector continued to expand, business demand maintained steady growth, and the industry operated smoothly and efficiently.

China's warehousing storage sector maintains expansion in March