Explainer | How can China get consumers spending? Here are 5 ideas being floated in Beijing
China has made boosting consumer spending a key policy priority in recent months, as it tries to rebalance its economy away from a reliance on exports and offset the impact of an unprecedented trade war with the United States.
Assess local officials based on their ability to boost consumption
Bai Chongen, dean of the School of Economics and Management at Beijing’s prestigious Tsinghua University, has suggested making consumption a key performance indicator for local governments.
If local economic growth remains the top performance metric, officials will keep prioritising investment-driven development, leading to oversupply, price instability and mounting debt pressure, Bai said in an interview with China News Service.
Making consumption a key performance metric, he argued, would instead steer local governments towards a more sustainable growth model – one that fosters stable employment and strengthens consumer confidence.
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