Boosting consumption

The State Council's focus on expanding consumption, especially that of households, shows that Chinese policymakers are keen to seek a new engine for future growth in a bid to mitigate the effects of the global economic downturn.

Though the country's consumption held up well in the first quarter of the year, much more is needed to increase consumer spending on a significant and sustainable basis.

The latest statistics show that China's retail sales grew 15.9 percent in real terms, up 3.6 percentage points year on year and 1.1 percentage points higher than that for the whole year of 2008.