Chinese consumer confidence fell in the last quarter of 2010 amid increasing concern about inflation.
The consumer confidence index was at 100, down from 104 three months before and 109 in the second quarter of last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ China Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center and the Nielsen Company, which compile the index.
People in rural areas were more confident with a reading of 107, but residents in urban areas showed less confidence with a reading of as low 95 in first-tier cities.
Pan Jiancheng, deputy director general at the center, said, “Domestic consumption did not slow in recent months. Robust spending during the Spring Festival holiday indicated people’s confidence fell due mostly to worries for the future, and has not affected their spending behavior.”
The English People’s Daily Online reported that China’s retail sales, a yardstick measuring people’s demand and expenditure, grew 18.4% in 2010, faster than 15.5% pace recorded in 2009.