Fully stimulate the consumption potential of rural areas | labor force | potential
The popular "Village Super" stadium, the bloodthirsty dragon boat competition, and the just passed Dragon Boat Festival leave a deep impression on people with the surging vitality from the countryside. Popularity is confidence, and the vast countryside holds enormous potential to promote consumption.
The enormous potential first comes from the increasingly prosperous "money bags" of farmers. Data shows that in 2022, the retail sales of rural consumer goods in China reached 5928.5 billion yuan, and the per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was 16632 yuan. The nominal and actual growth rates were both 4.2 percentage points faster than urban residents. The income growth rate of rural residents is also higher than that of urban residents. In 2022, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 20133 yuan, with nominal and actual growth rates 2.4 and 2.3 percentage points faster than urban residents, respectively. In the first quarter of this year, driven by factors such as the improvement of rural tourism and rural tourism operations, the net operating income of rural residents in the tertiary industry increased by 9.3% compared to the same period last year. According to the national monitoring survey of migrant workers, at the end of the first quarter, the number of rural laborers who went out to work was 181.95 million, an increase of 4.15 million or 2.3% compared to the same period last year; The average monthly income from working outside is 4504 yuan, an increase of 1.5% compared to the same period last year. With the increase of rural labor force going out for work, the per capita income of rural residents returning migrant workers has increased by 11.3% compared to the same period last year.
The enormous potential comes from the needs of rural residents for a better life. The General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and five other departments recently issued a notice on carrying out the 2023 New Energy Vehicle Campaign to the Countryside, announcing a total of 69 participating enterprises and vehicle models. Since 2020, a total of 6 batches of vehicle model catalog lists have been released for new energy vehicles going to rural areas. In 2021, a total of 1.068 million vehicle models in the catalog were sold, a year-on-year increase of 169%. In 2022, a total of 2.6598 million rural vehicle models were sold, a year-on-year increase of 87%. Over the past three years, the sales of rural vehicle models accounted for 35% of the total sales of new energy vehicles in China during the same period. The 2022 edition of the China Statistical Yearbook shows that in 2021, the average ownership of household cars, air conditioners, computers, and range hoods per 100 households in rural China was 30.2, 89, 24.6, and 36.6, respectively, with considerable growth potential.
The enormous potential once again comes from the improvement of rural consumption infrastructure and the space for improving the consumption environment. According to the 2022 Rural Consumption Environment and Related Issues Survey Report released by the China Consumers Association, among the 824 administrative villages sampled in the survey, the proportion of villages without express delivery points is 34%. When applying for internet services in rural areas, the most common problem for consumers is the small number or long distance of surrounding service outlets, accounting for 46.1%; At the same time, the content and charging standards of online services are complex, and many rural consumers express that they cannot understand them; Believing that the fees for online services are too high is also a major issue reported by rural consumers. 44.5% of rural consumers stated that they have purchased counterfeit and inferior products, as well as "three no" products, in the past year in the local and nearby markets, mainly in pre packaged food, tobacco and alcohol, beverages and other categories. With the improvement of express delivery and online services, as well as the optimization of the consumption environment, the scale of rural consumption will inevitably expand rapidly.