Chinese retail complex giant sees booming sales during National Day holiday

BEIJING - Chinese retail complex giant Wanda Plaza reported booming traffic and sales during the just-concluded National Day holiday as pent-up consumption steam unleashes with anti-COVID-19 measures in place.

The vast retail complex network with Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group said visitor traffic edged up 3.8 percent year-on-year from Oct 1 to Oct 8 in its 336 plazas across the country, while sales revenue grew 18.3 percent over one year ago.

The popular retail complex's robust performance echoed the rosy national consumption picture. Data from the country's commerce ministry showed that monitored retail and catering enterprises posted a 4.9-percent year-on-year growth in sales during the holiday.

Wanda's cinemas saw their box office revenue hit 540 million yuan ($80.7 million) during the first seven days of the holiday, which had recovered to the same level of last year, as several new movies hit the big screen.

The eight-day holiday, which combines the National Day celebration and the Mid-Autumn Festival, is the first long vacation much aspired by Chinese consumers since the epidemic broke out early this year.