Full speed ahead on expanding domestic demand: Steering up China's economy

BEIJING, March 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by China.org.cn on China's economy:

At the annual "two sessions" in 2023, the "Report on the Work of the Government" was delivered, in which "expanding domestic demand" is placed at the top of this year's government work agenda. Expanding domestic demand is indeed the key to propelling China's economy to look up, while it's also meaningful for stabilizing global economic growth.

If we look back on 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic cast a pall over the domestic demand in China, especially its consumption demand. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, domestic demand contributed a mere 1 percentage point to China's GDP growth in 2022, while the number was around 4 in the several years leading up to the pandemic. The sluggish growth of consumption has become a key constraining factor in China's domestic demand expansion as well as its economic growth.

As the influence of the pandemic wanes, however, China's consumption has resumed recovery. During the Spring Festival, hotels in popular tourist destinations were almost booked out, and restaurants all over China also saw a great increase in customers. All these phenomena have given people confidence for China's consumption to regain its momentum.

Besides, the "Report on the Work of the Government" also mentioned China's incentive policies for new forms and new models of consumer spending, including reducing vehicle purchase tax, which has proven effective in spurring the purchase of vehicles. The government took measures to incentivize the selling of green and smart appliances, and green building materials in rural areas. These measures will continue to showcase effect, for rural residents now enjoy a window in upgrading their home appliances all-round.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has been encouraging investment in recent years, with a particular focus on investment in facilities that will further stimulate consumption. For example, by encouraging the revamp and upgrade of piping systems in cities as well as the further provision of water supply and plumbing systems in rural areas, residents are then expected to generate greater consumption of a higher quality in water-use related areas; by encouraging the construction of broader road infrastructure in rural areas, vehicle consumption as well as logistical efficiency in rural areas are expected to improve; by encouraging telecom service carriers to accelerate network building in rural areas, rural residents are more likely to make purchases via e-commerce platforms. In this year's "Report on the Work of the Government", there are also plans to continue relevant projects, in a bid to further marry rising investments with spurring consumption.

As the world's second largest economy, China's accelerating economic growth itself is contributing to the global growth. China's burgeoning investment and consumption will for sure augment the demand for goods and services from other economies, which means a larger import volume, therefore helping other economies to achieve growth steadily. What's more, with Chinese tourists returning to global tourism, their consumption in the destination markets will also pick up.

In a nutshell, China is stepping up efforts to expand domestic demand, prioritizing the revitalization and increase of consumption. This will not only help improve China's economy, but also continuously inject powerful impetus into the global economy.

China Mosaic
https://chinamosaic.china.com.cn/index.htm 
Full speed ahead on expanding domestic demand: Steering up China's economy
https://www.china.org.cn/china/2023-03/10/content_85160044.htm 

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SOURCE China.org.cn