Nestlé CEO lauds China's pro-consumption plan as "best news" for consumer goods industry

Nestlé CEO Laurent Freixe praised China's new consumption-boosting action plan as "the best news for the consumer goods industry" and see China as "a prime location" for initating innovation. 

The plan was issued last week by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, aiming to vigorously boost consumption, stimulate domestic demand across the board, and increase spending power by raising earnings and reducing financial burdens.

It is the latest effort by the world's second-largest economy to make domestic demand the main engine and anchor of economic growth.

During an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sidelines of China Development Forum 2025, Freixe said China's consumption-boosting action plan presents a significant opportunity for the consumer goods industry, especially for Nestlé as a market leader. 

"I think it is great news for the industry. China is a huge consumer market and has a lot of potential supporting consumption. Certainly the best news for the consumer goods industry. We are the leaders in this industry. So we will take advantage of that great opportunity that the government package will be offering to our industry," said Freixe.

Nestlé, the Swiss food giant, has been present in China for nearly 40 years. China currently stands as Nestlé's second-largest market globally, generating over 40 billion yuan in annual revenue.

Since 2020, the company's new investment in the Chinese market has exceeded 2 billion yuan and it plans to further increase investment in pet food, coffee, and infant formula.

Freixe underscored China's dynamic consumer landscape and its openness to innovation.

"So exciting about China, the size of the consumer market, the fact that the consumer is very open to innovation, new flavors, new products. So that's exciting. But it's also demanding because we have to move at the pace of the Chinese consumer. We see China as a prime location for developing new products, new services and taking advantage end to end, from farm to fork, of AI technology," he said.

Nestlé CEO lauds China's pro-consumption plan as "best news" for consumer goods industry

Since Israel resumed its intensified military campaign on March 18, at least 2,222 Palestinians have been killed and 5,751 others injured, bringing the overall death toll in Gaza since the war began in October 2023 to 52,314, with a total of 117,792 people injured, according to health authorities in Gaza on Monday.

At least 56 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded in Israeli airstrikes on various areas of the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to the Civil Defense in Gaza.

Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said that the Israeli airstrikes targeted displaced persons' tents, residential houses, and civilian gatherings across the Gaza Strip.

Among the dead, 26 people were killed in Israeli strikes on gatherings and houses in the western and northwestern areas of Gaza City.

In the northern Gaza Strip, at least 12 Palestinians were killed when Israeli warplanes bombed residential houses around the Jabalia refugee camp. Separately, artillery shelling in the town of Beit Lahia killed one person and wounded several others.

In the central Gaza Strip, an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp killed a Palestinian girl, Basal added.

Meanwhile, in the southern city of Khan Younis, 16 Palestinians were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted houses, tents sheltering displaced persons, and civilian gatherings.

Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 52,314