State Council approves China's first dedicated 5-year plan to boost consumption

China's retail sales of consumer goods are expected to reach around 60 trillion yuan ($8.85 trillion) by 2030, with consumption playing a stronger role in driving economic growth, according to a five-year plan aimed at expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption.

The plan, approved by the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Monday, seeks to further expand China's consumer market by 2030, markedly raise the household consumption rate and accelerate growth in both goods and services consumption.

The target comes after China's retail sales of consumer goods reached 50.1 trillion yuan in 2025, crossing the 50-trillion-yuan mark for the first time, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The blueprint calls for expanding services consumption in areas such as elderly care, childcare, healthcare, culture, tourism, sports, and education.

It also outlines steps to expand and upgrade goods consumption, cultivate new consumption formats, business models and scenarios, and accelerate the development of digital, green, experiential, and inbound consumption.

As China's first five-year blueprint dedicated specifically to boosting consumption, it places strong emphasis on enhancing household spending power through higher-quality and fuller employment, steady income growth, and a more robust and sustainable social security system.

Additionally, stronger fiscal and financial support is needed, including broader measures that directly benefit consumers and increased government spending on social welfare and other livelihood priorities, according to the plan.