Tourists take photos while visiting the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Monday. During the Spring Festival holiday, the famous historic site attracted a large number of visitors. ZHANG TIANZHU/FOR CHINA DAILYChinese?New?Year?spree?shows?shoppers'?big?role?in?bolstering?growth,?say?expertsChinese consumers splurged during the Spring Festival holiday, not only on things like duty-free commodities, jewelry and health-related products, but also on experiences such as travel and entertainment, fueled by the optimization of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, industry experts said.They added that China's consumer market, which plays a fundamental role in bolstering the country's economic growth, is expected to gain momentum this year, and the consumption boom during the weeklong Chinese Lunar New Year holiday showcased the enormous vitality and strong resilience of the nation's economy.Statistics from the Department of Commerce of Hainan province showed that the total sales of 12 offshore duty-free shopping malls on the tropical island reached 1.69 billion yuan (9.1 million) from Jan 21 to Wednesday, an increase of 20.03 percent compared with the first five days of last year's Spring Festival holiday.Chinese e-commerce platform JD reported that between Jan 21 and Wednesday, the turnover of rabbit-themed jewelry skyrocketed more than tenfold over the last Spring Festival, while transaction volume of precooked dishes rose more than six times.Health-related and nutritional products to boost the immune system are increasingly favored by Chinese shoppers, with the turnover of amino acid oral liquid and protein powder soaring 215 percent and 70 percent year-on-year, respectively.While global economic growth is projected to decelerate from an estimated 3 percent in 2022 to 1.9 percent this year, China's growth is expected to moderately improve this year, said a report issued by the United Nations on Wednesday.With the authorities adjusting COVID policies in late 2022 and easing monetary and fiscal policies, China's economic growth is forecast to accelerate to 4.8 percent in 2023, said the report.China's GDP expanded 3 percent year-on-year in 2022 to 121.02 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Consumption contributed to 32.8 percent of China's economic growth last year, driving GDP growth by 1.0 percentage point.Analysts said that Spring Festival spending has been a barometer of China's consumption vitality, and the recovery of consumption will become the main force boosting China's economic rebound in 2023."The Spring Festival is the traditional festival that Chinese people attach the most importance to, and it's also a peak season for consumption," said Bai Ming, deputy director of international market research at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.China's consumer market has seen "recovery of growth" during the holiday, which indicates the vitality of domestic consumption and the restoration of consumer confidence, thanks to the optimized COVID-19 control measures, he said.The domestic tourism market also witnessed a robust recovery during the holiday. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, domestic destinations and attractions received 308 million visits, up 23.1 percent year-on-year. The number was roughly 88.6 percent of that in 2019.Cinemas welcomed crowds of moviegoers, with the country's box office revenue for the holiday exceeding 6.5 billion yuan as of 4 pm on Friday, data from box office tracker Maoyan showed.Chinese shoppers unleashed their pent-up purchasing demand during the Spring Festival, and their consumption level has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels, said Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University's International Business School.Wu Chaoming, deputy director of the Chasing International Economic Institute, said the continued optimization of COVID-19 policies will significantly boost consumption growth and stimulate people's appetite to travel and spend this year. 編輯：王?
Pharmacists check prescription information at a fever clinic in Minhang district of Shanghai on Jan 8. The small molecule drugs to treat COVID-19 had been put into use in community health centers in Shanghai to better play their roles in "early detection, early intervention and early diversion". WANG XIANG/XINHUADomestically?developed?COVID-19?drug?therapies?lower?risk?of?hospitalizationChina will create broad-spectrum treatments to tackle mutated strains of the COVID-19 virus and develop drugs with novel mechanisms to fight the pathogen, according to a document provided to China Daily.As of Jan 19, a total of 10 domestically made COVID-19 drugs had either been granted official or conditional market approval or were authorized to treat symptoms of the pathogen, the document stated.The document was issued by the specialized team for COVID-19 medicine research and development under the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, China's Cabinet.China also had 23 drugs on the key COVID-19 medicine list that were in active development or undergoing real-world evidence studies after receiving market approval, it said."The team will continue to facilitate the development of safe and effective treatments that can cover the whole course of the disease and are suitable for all populations," it added.Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, China's novel coronavirus drug development process has followed three broad technical paths- stopping the virus from entering cells, inhibiting viral replication in the body and regulating the body's immune system.In December 2021, China granted official market approval to its first homegrown neutralizing monoclonal neutralizing antibody cocktails - BRII-196 and BRII-198. It is a combination therapy administered through intravenous infusion that can lower the risk of hospitalization and death by nearly 80 percent, according to its phase-three clinical trial results.Meanwhile, Chinese scientists have been developing small-molecule oral treatments for COVID-19.A breakthrough came in July when China granted conditional authorization for the oral antiviral Azvudine to treat COVID-19. The drug was originally used to treat HIV.This year, China will accelerate the development of small-molecule oral drugs. In mid-January, the National Medical Products Administration received applications for market approval for new antivirals SIM0417 and VV116. Another antiviral called RAY1216 had recently finished recruiting for its late-stage clinical trials.Besides finding treatments for COVID-19, Chinese scientists are researching new drugs to prevent infections or regulate the body's immune system, with a handful of candidates currently in phase two or three clinical trials. Some notable examples include the targeted inhibitor drug TDI01 and HY3000 peptide nasal spray.zhangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn 編輯：王?
