Xi Jinping says China's huge market key to boosting local demand

BEIJING: Xi Jinping called for making domestic demand the "main driver" of economic growth, according to remarks by the Chinese president released Sunday from a key policy meeting late last year.

China should "coordinate efforts to boost consumption and expand investment, and fully leverage the advantages of China's super-large-scale market," Xi said in comments published by Qiushi, the Communist Party's flagship journal. He stressed improving livelihoods, stabilizing investment and supporting long-term growth.

The blueprint, delivered at December's Central Economic Work Conference that sets annual policy priorities, signals Beijing is preparing for greater external uncertainty despite posting a record trade surplus amid tariff tensions with the US.


The language underscores China's growing push to spur consumption among its 1.4 billion people as more countries push back against its low-cost exports. Senior officials, including Vice Premier He Lifeng, have also floated expanding access to China's domestic market to ease trade imbalances.

China's economy grew 5% last year, with strong exports offsetting weak household consumption and a sharp decline in investment - a growth model economists say may become harder to sustain amid rising global protectionism.

Facing mounting trade and geopolitical risks, Beijing is seeking to strengthen consumption as a core growth engine while continuing to rely on emerging industries and innovation-driven development.

He called for stabilizing the property market and supporting employment for graduates and migrant workers.