China's consumer market to remain key driver of economic growth in 2025: official

A senior official from the National Development and Reform Commission on Friday emphasized that China's massive consumer market will continue to be a major advantage in 2025, with the government set to introduce measures to enhance consumer spending and boost economic development.

Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Xiao Weiming, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, reviewed the consumption trends in 2024.

Xiao highlighted the strong performance of China's consumption market in 2024, where both bulk and service consumption saw notable increases. Looking ahead to 2025, he expressed confidence that the market will continue to thrive, driven by the emergence of new consumption patterns.

"In 2025, I believe that the advantages of China's super-scale consumer market will remain unchanged, the supporting conditions and fundamental trends for positive consumption will stay unchanged, and the consumer market will continue to grow steadily," said Xiao.

To drive consumption growth this year, China will launch a broad-based initiative, encompassing a range of policies and measures across different sectors, according to Xiao.

"More efforts will be made to promote income growth and reduce the burden on residents. Large-scale vocational training programs will be introduced to help workers enhance their skills and increase their income. Based on local conditions, steps will be taken to develop industries, empower counties, and enrich people in an integrated manner. Everything possible will be done to expand channels for farmers to increase incomes," said Xiao.

The basic pensions for retirees will be appropriately raised, and the basic pension benefits and government subsidies for medical insurance of rural and non-working urban residents will also be increased, said Xiao, adding that further efforts will be made to strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of those in flexible employment and new forms of employment.

In addition, more efforts will be made to enrich the supply of consumer products and services, cultivate new drivers of consumption, and improve the overall consumption environment, the official noted.

China's consumer market to remain key driver of economic growth in 2025: official

China on Saturday expressed serious concern and firm opposition to new U.S. outbound investment restrictions, saying that it will closely follow relevant developments and reserve the right to take all necessary measures.

The statement made by a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce came in response to a media query regarding the U.S. Treasury Department's updated proposed rules on outbound investment released on Friday.

In the statement released on the ministry's official website, the spokesperson said that the proposed rule expands the scope of investment restrictions targeting China in a discriminatory manner and intensifies these constraints, which is a classic example of generalizing the concept of national security and runs counter to the important consensus reached by the two heads of state.

It also interrupts normal economic and trade cooperation between Chinese and U.S. enterprises, and undermines the international economic and trade order, the spokesperson added.

Highlighting China's enormous market and immense consumer and investment potential, the spokesperson emphasized that investing in China means investing in the future.

U.S. restrictions on investments in China not only hinder bilateral economic and trade cooperation, but also harm the interests of American enterprises themselves, the spokesperson noted.

China urges the U.S. side to respect the laws of a market economy, stop overstretching the concept of national security, stop politicizing and weaponizing trade and economic issues, and create an enabling environment for China-U.S. business cooperation, said the spokesperson.

China firmly opposes US discriminatory investment restrictions: spokesperson