Swedish furniture retailer IKEA called on China on Thursday to deploy further stimulus measures, after the government announced a package of measures to reinvigorate an economy battered by a property crisis.
"Still we see consumer confidence in China is slightly lower than the global average, (but) we are optimistic that the stimulus package will have a positive impact," said Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group, which runs most IKEA stores globally, including in China.
"We would like to encourage even more stimulation to the market because the market needs a little extra boost," Brodin added.
China accounted for 3.5% of global sales for Ingka Group in its 2023/24 financial year - down slightly from 3.6% in the previous year.
In an effort to reverse its economic downturn, China unveiled two weeks ago its most aggressive monetary stimulus package since the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with extensive property market support.
China's finance ministry is set to hold a press conference on Saturday to provide details of the stimulus plan.
"We are quite excited to see what this (stimulus) would mean for the Chinese economy and in particular for the Chinese home furnishing market," said Tolga Oncu, Ingka Retail Manager at Ingka Group. "We are doing the assessment as we speak."
