China’s Spring Festival has witnessed robust domestic consumption. Ministry of Commerce statistics show holiday sales volume of the retail sector and catering industry increased by 11.2 percent from the previous year.

The latest sales figures on the lunar New Year holidays once again show China’s immense potential in domestic consumption.

The Commerce Ministry said the overall sales volume of retail and catering business stood at 754 billion yuan. Sales in China’s northern Shaanxi province and Tianjin municipality rose by more than 10 percent, while those of southern Chongqing municipality and Hubei province increased by more than 12 percent.

The ministry said the segments contributing the most to growth are clothes, gold and jewelry, digital products, and the catering sector.

The restaurant industry also embraced the “Internet Plus” trend, which greatly contributed to its growth.

Many players in the industry offer online services, which allow people to order meals on the Internet. And in the southern cities of Hangzhou and Nanchang, people can use mobile phone apps to hire cooks for the New Year Eve dinner, so they can enjoy a feast without leaving their homes.