Bloom and gloom: China’s Spring Festival flower sales hit by weak demand, warm weather

Lunar New Year, arguably China’s biggest annual holiday, can be seen as a barometer for the country’s economy. As more than a billion people travel, shop, eat and give gifts to family and friends, their preferences and habits paint a picture of the nation’s consumption over a few festive weeks. This is the second story in a nine-part series.

Crowded, colourful botanical fairs are among the great Lunar New Year traditions across China, especially in Guangdong and Hong Kong, as various flowers and citrus plants are auspicious and have symbolic meanings.

Floral fairs – along with the box office, tourism revenue and catering – serve as an important indicator when gauging consumption interest during the holiday period that Chinese people refer to as the Spring Festival. Thus, this tends to be a telling time of year when it comes to determining how domestic demand is faring.

But the situation has not been rosy in the lead-up to the Year of the Snake.

Ahead of this week’s opening of some major floral fairs in southern China, flower vendors expressed a less-than-optimistic outlook for this year’s sales. They pointed to a combination of consumers’ reluctance to splash their cash on celebrations and festive decorations, as well as the unseasonably warm temperatures that have led to a bigger-than-normal flower supply.

Compared with last year, the average retail prices of flowers are down about 10 to 20 per cent for the two-week-long Spring Festival that begins January 29, while the supply has increased by about 10 per cent, according to Judy Yang, a business development manager at a flower fair in Guangzhou.