On January 8th, the press conference of the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) across the Straits & HK and Macau in the fourth quarter of 2017 was held in CUEB. The survey and preparation of the CCI were jointly completed by CUEB, Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Taipei Medical University (TMU). The press conference was jointly sponsored by the five universities and organized by CUEB.

First of all, Zhang Baoxue, Dean of the School of Statistics, and Huang Liwei, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Department addressed at the conference, and Zhang also released the CCI across the Straits & Hong Kong and Macau. Afterwards, Dr. Liu Miao of CUFE made a technical report on the index survey. Dr. Ren Tao from the School of Statistics of CUEB, Professor Cao Guohui of CityU, Professor Liu Chengkun of MUST and Professor XieBangchang of TMU reviewed and analyzed the CCI of Mainland China, HK, Macau and Taiwan respectively.

According to the survey, in the fourth quarter of 2017, with deepening supply-side structural reforms, growing new economic drivers, improving market expectations, and the recovering world economy, the economy of Chinese mainland continued to operate within a reasonable range, and the macroeconomic indicators such as economic growth, employment and commodity prices show that the economy is developing in a stable way. In this context, the consumer confidence continued its upward trend in the previous quarter, and the overall consumer confidence index in Mainland China has reached a new high since 2009.

According to the sub-indexes, consumers’ confidence in economic development, employment, and commodity prices rose the most, with the confidence sub-index of economic development and employment hitting a historic high since 2009. While the confidence in house-purchase and life was relatively stable with a mild increase. The confidence in investment declined slightly this quarter.

The press conference attracted a large number of media. More than 50 media including Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television attended the conference.