On October 24th, the head of the Consumer Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the situation of China's consumer market, stating that in September, the effectiveness of the policy of exchanging old for new consumer goods continued to be released, and the consumer market showed a trend of recovery and improvement. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of consumer goods in that month amounted to 4.11 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%, with a growth rate 1.1 percentage points faster than the previous month. In the first three quarters, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 35.36 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%. The effectiveness of exchanging old for new is evident. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the retail sales of goods in September reached 3.67 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%, with a growth rate 1.4 percentage points faster than the previous month. The retail sales of household appliances by units above the quota increased by 20.5% year-on-year, with a growth rate 17.1 percentage points faster than the previous month; The retail sales of automobiles and furniture both increased by 0.4% year-on-year, achieving a transition from negative to positive. Service consumption is growing rapidly. In the first three quarters, the retail sales of services increased by 6.7% year-on-year, which was 3.7 percentage points faster than the retail sales of goods during the same period. Among them, the catering revenue was 3.94 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%; The per capita expenditure on education, culture, entertainment, and transportation and communication among residents increased by 10.1% and 10.0% respectively year-on-year. Collaborative development between online and offline channels. In the first three quarters, online consumption grew rapidly, and the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 7.9% year-on-year, accounting for 25.7% of the total social retail sales. Physical retail grew steadily, with retail sales of convenience stores, specialty stores, and supermarkets in retail units above designated size increasing by 4.7%, 4.0%, and 2.4% year-on-year, respectively. Rural consumption is faster than urban consumption. In September, the retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas reached 606.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%, which was 0.8 percentage points faster than that in urban areas. In the first three quarters, the retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas reached 4.77 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%, which was 1.2 percentage points faster than that in urban areas; The per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents increased by 6.5% year-on-year, 1.5 percentage points faster than that of urban areas. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, stated that the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to guide all regions to fully implement the already introduced policy of exchanging old for new consumer goods, seize the important consumption nodes of "Double 11", and continue to organize and carry out consumer promotion activities such as the supply and demand docking of exchanging old for new, the new energy vehicle consumption season in thousands of counties and towns, and the "Silk Road Cloud Products" e-commerce festival. (New Society)