The National Bureau of Statistics said on July 7 that the consumer confidence index was up 0.2 percentage points in June from March and stood at 94.6 in June, signalizing stable consumer confidence in the second quarter.

Consumers are increasingly confident on their income prospect, an indicator for consumer confidence index. In June, 69 percent of consumers expected their personal or family income to rise or keep unchanged, 5 percentage points higher than in March. As a result, the income confidence index rose to 85.3 points.

However, the indicator showing consumers' optimism towards the economic outlook for the next few months declined by 3.7 percentage points from March to 81.4 in June. Experts with the NBS think this reflects consumers' concern over uncertainties in the economic development process and confusion brought about by those uncertainties.

In June, 36 percent of consumers said they "don't have clear idea" about the future economic trend, 7 percentage points more than in March whereas 52 percent believed the overall economy would enjoy "sustained prosperity" in the future, compared with 55 percent in March.

93.8 percent of consumers were satisfied with the current economic situation in June, climbing slightly from 92.9 percent in March. Experts think consumers' upbeat sentiment toward their income prospect drives this indicator up.

In June, 72 percent of consumers thought their personal or family income had increased or basically untouched, up 3 percentage points from March. 20 percent of consumers thought their income had shrunk, lower than in March when 22 percent consumers felt the same.

18 percent and 13 percent consumers saw it was the right time to buy houses and cars respectively, down by 6 percentage points and 4 percentage points respectively from March. Still, 70 percent of consumers thought it was right time to spend on durables, similar to that in the first quarter.

By People's Daily Online