China's Golden Week 2016: Country Spends $180 Billion During National Holiday

Golden Week, a national holiday that allows those in China to take off seven consecutive days from work or school to spend time with family and to travel, has resulted in sales that totaled in the hundreds of billions.

During Golden Week (Oct. 1 through Oct. 7), Chinese consumers spent a whopping $180 billion dollars domestically, according to WWD. The sales figures represent a 10.7 percent increase from last year's Golden Week, according to Chinese Ministry of Commerce data.

Although an estimated six million Chinese tourists traveled overseas during the week-long holiday, domestic spending was strongly encouraged.

The economy has grown 6.7 percent during the first half of the year, and domestic spending has been a goal of Beijing’s when it has come to stimulating the economy, WWD reported. In addition to the numbers from the Ministry of Commerce, an estimated spending amount of $7.2 billion came from Chinese who traveled elsewhere for the holiday.

“The economy this year, especially in the third quarter, is better than expected,” Premier Li Keqiang told the outlet Tuesday.

A report in September by the China Tourism Academy revealed that around 589 million Chinese were estimated to travel, domestically and internationally, during the holiday. The top travel destinations for Chinese tourists included South Korea, Japan, and Thailand.

A joint report from the China Tourism Research Institute and Ctrip revealed that the average Chinese tourist would reportedly spend a little more than 8,000 yuan ($1,200) during the national holiday.

The catering and retail sectors did particularly well, with jewelry and gold among the most popular purchases during the week, according to WWD.