Structural reforms

陈小将

Besides short-term measures, analysts emphasized that sustaining consumer strength will increasingly depend on deeper structural reforms, including raising household income, strengthening the social safety net and improving livelihoods.

To this end, the tone-setting meeting last week explicitly advocated "increased incomes for urban and rural residents".

Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank, said that "the policy focus is gradually evolving from simple stimulus to bolstering both the capacity and willingness of households to spend".

Wen pointed to potential measures such as adjusting personal income tax thresholds, maintaining steady growth in social welfare spending, and advancing policies that promote high-quality employment as key to enabling durable consumption growth.

China has also been proactively encouraging inbound consumption to enhance the resilience of its domestic market through the "Shopping in China" campaign, fueled by China's unilateral visa-free policies for various countries and a new initiative allowing eligible travelers to receive instant tax refunds.