China to raise household consumption ‘significantly’
China will increase the rate of government investment in people’s livelihoods over the next five years and “significantly” increase the percentage of household consumption in GDP, officials say.
The comments came after China on Thursday unveiled its draft 2026-2030 economic and other policy targets; This showed that the Communist Party leadership prioritized production and dependence on technology over consumption.
“China should strive for breakthroughs in key technologies,” President Xi Jinping said at a meeting on the new five-year plan in August, state media Xinhua reported Friday.
Xi added that integrated development in education, science and technology should be supported.
While the plan leans towards technological innovations and industrial improvements, policymakers have promised greater efforts to boost domestic consumption.
The first major goal of the next five-year plan is to keep economic growth within a “reasonable” range and increase the percentage of household consumption in GDP “significantly”, Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the central financial and economic affairs commission, said at a news conference in Beijing.
He didn’t mention an exact percentage.
China’s household consumption lags global averages by about 20 percentage points of GDP, while debt-driven investments are ahead by about 20 points.
“Strengthening the domestic market is a strategic pillar of China’s modernization… There is room and potential for China to expand its domestic demand,” said Zheng Shanjie, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.
China’s economic growth slowed to its weakest pace in a year in the third quarter; Fragile domestic demand has left China heavily reliant on windfalls at its export factories despite U.S. tariffs, raising concerns about government efforts to address longstanding structural imbalances.
Jiang Jinquan, head of the research office of the Communist Party of China, expected the country’s GDP to reach 140 trillion yuan ($30.19 trillion) this year, compared with 101.5 trillion yuan in the January-September period.
with AP
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