Confidence in Shanghai economy grows

Shanghai's consumers and investors are increasingly confident about the city's economy, buoyed by authorities' focus on development and cuts in taxes and fees, a new survey shows.

The Index of Consumer Confidence in Shanghai grew 4.8 points from the fourth quarter of 2018 to 124.5 points in the January-March period this year, according to the survey released yesterday by the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. That was up 6.3 points from a year earlier.

The Index of Investor Confidence bounced back strongly, reversing five quarters of falls.

It grew 11.89 points from the fourth quarter to 113.12 points for the first quarter of this year. But it remained flat on a yearly basis.

An index reading above 100 indicates optimism, while one below 100 points to pessimism.

The increasing consumer confidence in Shanghai's economy was attributed to Shanghai's Two Sessions held in January 2019 — the second meeting of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Committee and the second session of the 15th Shanghai People's Congress — during which the city's authorities focused on promoting the steady development of the economy, said Xu Guoxiang, director of the university's Applied Statistics Research Center.

The government also began cutting taxes and fees from the start of this year, reducing the burden on companies and putting more money into consumers' pockets, boosting consumer expectations on income and higher purchase intentions, Xu said.

A capital market rally also lifted consumer confidence.