China is building a ‘mega-sized' consumer economy, Premier says
Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivers a speech during opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum's meeting in Tianjin on June 25. PHOTO: AFP
- Premier Li Qiang has projected confidence that China can turn consumption into a driver for the economy, while also portraying his nation as a stabilising force in a rapidly shifting global trade landscape.
Policymakers were growing the nation 'into a mega-sized consumer powerhouse on top of its solid foundation as a manufacturing power', Mr Li said in a speech at the World Economic Forum's meeting in Tianjin on June 25.
'This will bring vast markets to enterprises from all countries.'
He added that while the world was seeing a host of global trade frictions, China was positioned 'to cross cycles, move forward steadily, and continue to inject more stability and certainty into the world economy'.
Mr Li did not directly mention the Trump administration's tariffs or Washington's tech curbs, but called for 'all parties to avoid the politicisation of economic and trade issues', saying Beijing's approach offered win-win outcomes.
Chinese officials often express confidence that they can build the consumer sector into a key engine of the economy, but the task is becoming more urgent as governments around the world push back on China's huge amount of exports.
Those tensions have been highlighted by a trade war with the US that is now amid a fragile truce.
The world's second-largest economy continues to struggle with weak consumer sentiment and deflationary pressures, although strong retail sales in May gave it some relief from US tariffs.
Consumer enthusiasm for a government-subsidised home goods trade-in programme has been so great that provinces are quickly running out of funds the national government has distributed.
State media has said China will allocate the remaining 138 billion yuan (S$24.6 billion) in planned funds to provinces to ensure consumer access to subsidies throughout 2025.
Underscoring China's push to revamp its economy, Vice-Premier He Lifeng said while on a trip to the northern province of Hebei earlier this week that the nation would 'actively expand domestic demand to boost consumption', the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
He added that promotion of the trade-in programme needed further implementing.
In his address at the World Economic Forum event, Mr Li also touted China's advances in areas such as electric vehicles (EVs) and artificial intelligence (AI).
He added that the nation would 'share indigenous technologies and innovative scenarios with countries around the world'.
That remark may have been intended to contrast with the US, which is trying to deprive China of advanced semiconductors and other high-tech equipment on national security grounds.
Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek has released an open-source model that it says rivals software from the top American AI developers, a move that could allow others to see, freely use and build on top of the code.
Critics of the open-source software say it is less secure.
Bloomberg News reported in 2024 that China strongly advised its carmakers to make sure advanced EV technology stays in the country.
Beijing apparently encouraged the automakers to export so-called knock-down kits to their foreign plants, meaning key parts of a vehicle would be produced domestically and then sent for final assembly in their destination markets.
Global business executives and world leaders, including Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, are attending the meeting also known as Summer Davos in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. BLOOMBERG
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