New Energy Passenger Vehicle Retail Penetration Hits Record High of 65.1% in July

On August 20, an official from the Department of Consumer Promotion at the Ministry of Commerce briefed on China's consumer market performance in July 2024. From January to July, total retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB 28.77 trillion, up 1.2% year-on-year; excluding automobiles, retail sales of consumer goods rose by 2.7%. In July, the retail penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles hit a record high of 65.1%. Meanwhile, retail sales of goods increased by 0.5% year-on-year. Retail sales by designated large retailers rose for several categories: grain, oil, and food products (+5.3%), beverages (+3.5%), and daily necessities (+1.8%). Sales of communication devices surged by 20.4%, followed by cultural and office supplies (+7.4%) and cosmetics (+6.8%). In July, key e-commerce platforms reported significant sales growth in emerging products: embodied intelligent robots (+95.1%), exoskeleton assistive devices (+39.5%), action cameras (+24.7%), and robotic vacuum cleaners (+19.4%). From January to July, retail sales of services grew by 5.0% year-on-year, with catering revenue up 2.6%. Retail sales of travel consultation, rental services, and cultural/recreational services each posted growth exceeding 10%. July’s total box office revenue surpassed RMB 5 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of over 20%. Rural retail sales of consumer goods totaled RMB 3.8 trillion from January to July, up 2.4% year-on-year—1.3 percentage points faster than urban areas. The share of county- and township-level retail sales in total social retail sales reached 39.1%, up 0.3 percentage points from the same period last year.