Published on: 2026-07-29
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
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Beijing, July 29 /Xinhua/ — Consumption remains a key driver of China’s economic growth, said Huang Hanquan, Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission of China, during the latest episode of the multimedia discussion program “China Economic Roundtable,” organized by Xinhua News Agency, on Wednesday.
In the first half of 2026, the consumer market as a whole remained stable, service consumption grew quite rapidly, the consumption structure continued to improve, and new drivers in the sector were gaining momentum, the expert noted.
During this period, expenditures on final consumption made a greater contribution to economic growth than capital accumulation or net exports, reflecting the resilience of the large Chinese market.
The shift towards services in the household expenditure structure has become more noticeable, while the share of spending on consumption services is steadily increasing, noted Wang Guanhua, an official of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS).
In the first half of the year, the turnover of retail services grew by 5.3 percent year-on-year, outpacing retail goods sales by 4.2 percentage points, she noted, pointing out that segments such as tourism, consulting, and leasing, as well as cultural, sporting, and leisure events, showed double-digit growth.
“Emotional consumption and experience-based consumption continue to gain momentum. Travel and tourism remain popular, tickets for major concerts, live performances, and sporting events are often sold out. These are vivid examples of the sustained unleashing of the potential of Chinese households in service consumption,” concluded Wang Guanhua.
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