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EconomyPolicy

What’s at stake as China prioritises household spending in new five-year plan

Policymakers set US$8.85 trillion retail goal for 2030, betting on services, property and cars to anchor growth amid weak demand

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Customers check out televisions at a home appliances store in Changzhou, Jiangsu province. Photo: VCG
Emma Main Shanghai
Beijing has elevated household spending to a higher strategic priority, rolling out the country’s first stand-alone five-year plan for consumption.
The plan, unveiled on Monday by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce, sets a 2030 retail sales target of 60 trillion yuan (US$8.85 trillion) – nearly 20 per cent higher than the 2025 level – as policymakers seek to steady growth amid sluggish expansion.

“The country’s consumer market is entering a critical period of expansion and quality improvement,” the NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Monday. They added that a buoyant retail market would eventually serve as a key growth engine for the national economy.

It marked the first time Beijing had rolled out a dedicated five-year framework exclusively targeting consumption, Huatai Securities said in a report on Tuesday.

“It places greater emphasis on cross-ministerial coordination and rolls out a full set of medium-to-long-term institutional frameworks,” it added.

Beijing did not publish a stand-alone blueprint for the retail market in its 14th five-year plan for 2021 to 2025, which listed consumption as one of the key areas for expanding domestic demand and powering economic activity.

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