Beijing makes domestic spending its top priority – Asian Media Report |
From China’s new investing in people strategy to Thailand’s threat to continue border fighting, revelations about Korea’s martial law bid, South Asia’s climate emergencies, the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh, and Seoul’s imaginative food waste scheme, the latest Asian media coverage highlights our region’s pressures, problems and opportunities.
China is mounting a top-level campaign backing a shift in its economic strategy to a systematic attempt to stimulate domestic demand and improve social welfare. It is aimed at encouraging consumers to open their wallets.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said the new imperative was labelled “investing in people”.
It said the concept was first raised in the Communist Party’s recommendations in October for the next five-year plan and endorsed by the central economic work conference, held earlier this month to set out the policy priorities for 2026.
A book explaining the five-year plan proposals defined investing in people as empowering people by boosting public investment in such areas as childcare, elderly care, health, education and training.
“The return from investing in physical assets is declining while we have long underinvested in livelihoods and comprehensive human development,” the book said. “ In the transformation of growth towards a demand- and innovation-driven pattern, it is imperative to increase investment in people.”
Latest figures show an almost stagnant economy, underscoring the need to stimulate demand. Retail sales in November grew by only 1.3 per cent, year on year, SCMP reported – the sixth straight month of a slowdown in sales. Fixed asset investment fell by 2.6 per cent in the January to November period.
“The deceleration in consumption growth and the deepening property slump underscore the challenges Beijing faces in revitalising the economy," the paper said.
The central economic work conference – an annual meeting of the party’s Central Committee and the State Council, China’s cabinet – pledged to fully tap the country’s domestic market potential.
China Daily, an official English-language newspaper, said the conference put “boosting domestic demand” at the top of economic priorities for next year.
It also reported a statement by the Ministry of Commerce, the People’s Bank of China (the central bank) and the National Financial Regulatory Administration pledging stronger financial support for consumer spending.
The paper quoted President Xi Jinping as saying, in an article in Qiushi Journal, the party’s flagship magazine, that expanding domestic demand was crucial for economic stability and security.
It was not a temporary measure but a strategic move, Xi said.
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