China’s Consumers Remain Optimistic About Future, Nielsen Says

(YicaiGlobal) Feb. 27 — Chinese consumer confidence index has remained strong as domestic consumers has an optimistic outlook into the future, a recent Nielsen report shows.

After being stable for three consecutive quarters, Chinese consumer confidence index picked up to 108 in the fourth quarter of last year from 106 in the third quarter, the report said. The index stabilized at between 105 and 108 in each quarter of 2016, showing a steadily improving trend, pointing to optimism of Chinese consumers in the year that has just passed.

Chinese consumer confidence reached 106 in the whole of last year, down from 107 in 2015, but with an overall stable development trend, Nielsen said. Consumers’ appetite for spending was unaffected and even showed signs of rising, with their willingness to spend hitting 53 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, the highest in nearly four years.

“Despite a slowdown in domestic economic growth in recent years, Chinese consumer confidence has remained strong and robust in the past few years,” said Wei Shao, general manager of Nielsen in China. “Chinese consumers remain bullish on the future, supported by rising income and low unemployment rate.”

The Nielsen consumer confidence index measures perceptions of job prospects, personal finances and spending inclinations. Consumer confidence levels above and below 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism.

Chinese consumers’ positive expectations for job prospects helped boost confidence in the fourth quarter. Job prospects jumped to 64 in the fourth quarter from 60 in the third quarter, the Nielsen data shows. People’s willingness to spend also went up to 53 in the fourth quarter from 52 in the third one. Expectations for personal finances were unchanged from the third quarter at 62.