To boost demand, Beijing must upend its long-held mantra of production over livelihoods and investment over consumption.
As 2026 dawns, China has signalled a renewed crusade: persuading its citizens to spend more, for their own benefit and for the country’s. Yet history offers a cautionary tale. China’s leaders have long harboured an ambivalent relationship with consumption as a growth engine, instead favouring production and investment.
This time, though, the signals suggest a deeper resolve.
The gravity of this pivot is underscored by Qiushi, the Communist Party’s flagship publication, which last month published an article based on President Xi Jinping’s remarks on consumption from 2015 to 2025.
