





Underwears on sale in a super market in Beijing on Thursday Photo: VCG

The rise in sales of men's underwear in Northeast China's Liaoning Province has indicated the economic recovery of the province, and the region needs to strive to develop its new industries to keep up the momentum, said an expert.Sales of men's underwear in Liaoning has risen for the last three years, as consumers pay more attention to the quality and color variety of the clothes, according to a report in a local news website syd.com, which cited recent information released by JD Big Data Research Institute.Sales of men's underwear across the province rose 42 percent in 2017 over the previous year while the year-on-year increase stood at 32 percent to date in 2018, the industrial data showed. The provincial year-on-year sales increase in 2018 grew even faster than that of other provinces.According to the institute, underwear made of cotton is most welcomed, accounting for 48 percent of total shorts sales, and consumers in Liaoning prefer such brands as NanJiren, Septwolves and Playboy, marking an improvement from their previous consumption.The Men's Underwear Index, which was proposed by former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, purports to measure how well an economy is doing based on the sales of men's underwear. It suggests that declines in the sales of men's underwear indicate a worsening state of the economy, while upswings in underwear sales predict an improving economy.The Men's Underwear Index and similar indexes like 'yogurt index' and 'bread index' could be taken as an economic indicators, as the economic condition is also shown in consumer goods price index, said Liang Qidong, vice president of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.Economy in the three provinces in Northeast China has witnessed a recovery in recent years. Liaoning reported a turnaround to growth of 4.2 percent in 2017. Economic growth of Liaoning Province is 5.6 percent in the first half of 2018, and 5.4 percent in the third quarter."The recovery is mainly due to coal and steel prices rising during the period," Liang said, "and the recovery can also be seen in the volume of railway and road freight, electricity consumption of industry, volume of business and employment.""About 44 percent of the local employment is created by new industries like e-commerce and food delivery. Private enterprise accounts for vast majority of the employment, along with self-employment," Liang said.However, the expert also warned of the downward risk in 2019 as the new industries are still not strong enough and price of coal and steel may see a decline.To strengthen the economy, the Northeastern region still needs to stretch their industry chain, and make up for the shortage with new businesses, services, and light industry, Liang said.