China to further boost consumption

Journalists work at a news conference of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, one day ahead of the opening of the annual session. (WANG JING/CHINA DAILY)

China will ramp up efforts to boost consumption this year by combining both supply-side and demand-side measures, fostering a robust domestic market that will not only propel sustainable growth of the world's second-largest economy, but also contribute to global economic recovery, said officials and economists.

"We will expand the supply of high-quality consumer goods and services," said Lou Qinjian, spokesman for the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, while addressing a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday, a day before the opening of the annual NPC session.

China will accelerate the cultivation of new growth drivers for service consumption, while optimizing the consumer goods trade-in program to promote the expansion and upgrading of goods consumption, Lou said. The nation will also work to create an internationalized consumption environment, diversify consumption scenarios and successfully organize a series of "Shopping in China" events, he added.

Xiong Yi, chief economist for China at Deutsche Bank, noted that boosting consumption remains the primary task of China's macroeconomic policy agenda this year, with unlocking the potential of service consumption a "critical priority".

Through a coordinated policy mix that includes removing supply-side restrictions across the service sector, enriching consumption scenarios and tweaking the holiday schedule to increase people's leisure time, China's consumption potential in areas such as tourism, health and elderly care is set to be fully unleashed, Xiong said.

Lou, the NPC spokesman, said the government will promote high-quality employment and formulate income growth plans for urban and rural residents to enhance their spending power.

Authorities will steadily advance the equalization of basic public services and improve systems for education, child care, elderly care and medical security, to "reduce people's worries about consumption", he said.

Lou added that the Standing Committee of the NPC will formulate laws on social assistance, medical security and child care services this year, and promote the allocation of more resources to areas related to people's livelihoods, so that they are "able, willing and confident" to spend.

Officials and economists said they expect China's expanding consumer market to translate into opportunities for businesses worldwide and contribute to global economic recovery.

Lou said that China's middle-income group is expected to grow beyond 800 million people over more than a decade, creating a prime application scenario for the new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation.

"China was, is, and will always remain an ideal, secure and promising investment destination for foreign businesses," he said.

Saravoot Yoovidhya, CEO of TCP Group, the Thai conglomerate behind the energy drink brand Red Bull, said that China's measures to expand high-standard opening-up have given foreign enterprises "greater confidence", deepening their presence in the Chinese market.