New retail to be a driver for the upgrading of economic growth

IN THE GOVERNMENT WORK REPORT he delivered to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, on Monday, Premier Li Keqiang stressed consumption's fundamental role in driving economic growth, and urged governments of various levels to promote the development of a new type of consumption featuring "new retail". Southern Metropolis Daily comments:

Before 2010, the consumption growth in China had been markedly slower than the growth of either investment or gross domestic product. Consumption's share in GDP had dropped from more than 70 percent in the 1960s to 48 percent in 2010. In the developed countries, the proportion is nearly 70 percent, and consumption is a robust economic engine.

The fall of the consumption's share in GDP in recent years primarily stems from the Chinese manufacturing industries' inability to satisfy the demand for higher quality products of consumers, who have demonstrated their strong purchasing power abroad.