第六届虹桥国际经济论坛举办   2023-11-08

Government officials, business leaders and academics gathered on Monday pat a forum hosted by the Ministry of Commerce in parallel to the ongoing China International Import Expo in Shanghai to discuss how to spur spending in China and lift the economy.



China has formed a new pattern focused on internal circulation, Huang Qifan, executive deputy director of the academic committee at the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy and former mayor of Chongqing in southwest China, said at the sixth Hongqiao International Economic Forum’s consumption parallel session which was supported by the China International Import Expo Bureau and Yicai Media Group.



The contribution of consumption to gross domestic product should expand to about 50 percent, and the proportion of investment and export should drop to 30 percent and 20 percent respectively, Huang said at the event, which had the theme of Understanding New Consumption Trends and Tapping New Consumption Potential.



To achieve this target, China needs to hike the porportion of households’ disposable income by 10 percentage points from 43 percent in 2022, Huang said. It also needs to strengthen the reform of the healthcare and education systems to reduce residents' spending in the two sectors.



The real estate sector is undergoing a deep adjustment, and China should take measures to avoid a hard landing in this industry, Huang said. The government can take advantage of the current downturn in housing prices to acquire residential properties for use as subsidized housing for highly qualified talent and other special groups, thus reducing the burden of mortgages and rentals on urban populations, he added.



Digital technology is playing an important role in this round of consumption expansion, said Jiang Xiaojuan, president of the China Society of Industrial Economics. New types of consumption bolstered by digital technology contributed at least 15 percentage points to the uptick in spending in the first three quarters.



Digital technology provides consumers with new types of goods and services, while digital trade allows customers access to a variety of imported goods and services, and digital finance offers more credit channels, she said.



Yicai Editor-in-Chief Yang Yudong organized a roundtable at the event attended by Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, Sam Wu, president and chief executive officer of Ford China, and Shen Jianguang, chief economist at e-commerce giant JD.com. Sheng Qiuping, vice minister of commerce, delivered a speech via video link.



Source: Yicai Global



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