OpinionThinking About China

Beijing Seeks More Free Spending Among the Country’s Consumers—But Has Limitations

In a tacit admission that exports can no longer carry the economy, the CCP’s Two Sessions meetings have emphasized consumer spending.
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Beijing Seeks More Free Spending Among the Country’s Consumers—But Has Limitations
A shopping district in Shenzhen, China, on April 3, 2025. Getty Images
Milton Ezrati
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Commentary

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made a major shift. It has decided to focus on the domestic consumer and taken steps to spur household spending. Although exports have long served as China’s engine of growth, increasing levels of hostility to China trade in the United States and Europe have dimmed export prospects.

Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is "Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live."