The China Light Industry Federation recently released the operation of China's light industry economy in the first two months of this year, which shows that the development momentum of consumer goods manufacturing industry has been significantly enhanced, driving the continuous recovery and improvement of the light industry economy. This positive change is not only reflected in the growth of the number of light industry enterprises above designated size and the increase of operating revenue, but also reflected in the leap in profit level and the steady growth of export delivery value. This phenomenon can not be generated without the joint promotion of multiple factors, such as the recovery of residents' consumption, the confidence of private enterprises, and the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The recovery of residents' consumption has injected strong endogenous power into the recovery of light industry. Light industry mainly refers to the industry producing consumer goods, covering food, clothing, housing, transportation, play, music, education and other fields. The activity of the consumer market is directly related to the development of light industry. With the continuous release of macro portfolio policy effects, people's consumer confidence has been significantly restored, and consumer demand has been released. According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce, the total retail sales of consumer goods from January to February 2024 will be 8130.7 billion yuan, up 5.5% year on year. Among them, the consumption of catering, tourism, sports and other services grew rapidly, and new types of consumption such as digital consumption and health consumption flourished. The consumption of residents has recovered and the domestic demand has improved, so the sales of light industrial products have naturally increased. From the data point of view, the retail sales of 11 categories of light industry goods reached nearly 1.3 trillion yuan, up 5.2% year on year, which fully reflects the improvement of domestic consumption demand and the strengthening of market vitality.
In addition, the continuous growth of online consumption has also brought new opportunities for the development of light industry. In the first two months of this year, the online retail sales of physical goods exceeded 1.8 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.4%, accounting for 22.4% of the total retail sales of consumer goods. This data not only reflects the huge potential of the online consumer market, but also shows the positive results of the light industry in digital transformation and innovative consumption scenarios.
The confidence boost of private enterprises has provided strong support for the recovery of light industry. China's light industry covers a wide area and there are many private enterprises. Boosting the confidence of private enterprises is crucial to the stable development of the entire industry. With the continuous recovery of the macro-economy and the continuous optimization of the policy environment, the development space of private enterprises has been further expanded. From the perspective of data, there are more than 130000 light industry enterprises above designated size, achieving an operating revenue of 3.26 trillion yuan, up 4.1% year on year, reflecting the optimistic expectations and confidence of private enterprises in the market outlook. The confidence boosting of private enterprises not only contributes to the development and growth of enterprises themselves, but also injects strong power into the healthy operation of the whole light industry and even the national economy.
At the same time, the innovative vitality of private enterprises has also added new momentum to the recovery of light industry. In the face of increasingly fierce market competition, private enterprises pay more attention to technological innovation and product upgrading, and continue to increase the application of digital, networked and intelligent technologies in all aspects of production and sales to respond to market changes and consumers' diversified and quality needs. In recent years, new household products such as green smart home appliances and healthy kitchens and bathrooms have emerged one after another. Local traditional food and special snacks have been transformed into prefabricated products. Functional clothing for the elderly, intelligent daily auxiliary products and other new types of elderly products have been constantly enriched, which not only promotes the variety and quality improvement of light industrial products, It also provides strong support for the transformation and upgrading of the entire industry.
The recovery of light industry reflects the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises. At present, small and medium-sized enterprises account for nearly 85% of China's light industry enterprises, which is the main part of the light industry. In recent years, the government has introduced a series of policies and measures to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, including tax cuts and fee reductions, financing support, innovation and entrepreneurship support, which provides a strong guarantee for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. With the intensification of market competition and the diversification of consumer demand, SMEs also pay more attention to technological innovation and product upgrading, and constantly improve their competitiveness. In the first two months, the added value of light industry above designated size increased by 6.7% year on year, and the profit increased by 26.9% year on year, which not only reflects the good trend of the whole light industry sector, but also reflects the good prospect of the continuous recovery of production and operation of small and medium-sized enterprises. Light industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, with a large number of enterprises and a wide range of industries, which plays a great role in driving employment. The continuous recovery of light industry has not only provided important support for expanding domestic demand and stabilizing growth, but also provided a large number of employment opportunities for the society, effectively promoting social stability and economic development.
The recovery of light industry highlights the recovery of residents' consumption, the confidence of private enterprises and the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises. This trend is not only conducive to the sustainable and healthy development of light industry itself, but also provides a strong support for the high-quality development of the entire national economy. In the future, with the continuous promotion of the strategy of expanding domestic demand, the continuous optimization of business environment and the upgrading and transformation of enterprises, the development prospect of light industry will be even broader. At the same time, we should also see that light industry still faces some problems and challenges in its development, such as rapid changes in the consumer market, insufficient supply of medium and high-end products, environmental pressure, etc. Therefore, we need to further strengthen policy guidance and support. On the one hand, we need to deeply implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand, fully stimulate domestic demand potential and actively stabilize export advantages, so as to provide demand support for the sustainable development of light industry; On the other hand, we should adhere to the combination of market mechanism and the role of the government, accelerate the digital, intelligent and green development of light industry, and make greater contributions to building a new development pattern and achieving high-quality economic development.
(The author is a professor of the School of Economics of Zhejiang University and a researcher of the Institute of Finance of Zhejiang University)
