China has set its sights on a major consumption milestone, with seven government bodies jointly releasing a new plan to expand and upgrade spending on goods. The target is to reach approximately 60 trillion yuan in total retail sales of consumer goods by 2030, while nurturing new ten-trillion-yuan markets in areas like green, smart, and health-related consumption.
The directive, issued on August 31st by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and four other departments, outlines specific measures to achieve these goals. It emphasizes sustained growth for trillion-yuan categories such as automobiles, home appliances, communication equipment, and textiles, aiming to maintain China's global leadership in market scale.
Where the focus lies
According to an official from the Ministry of Commerce's Consumer Promotion Department, boosting commodity consumption is vital for stimulating spending and improving livelihoods. It plays a key role in building a robust domestic market, developing new productive forces, and meeting people's aspirations for a better life. Data from 2025 shows China's total retail sales of consumer goods have already surpassed 50 trillion yuan, with passenger car retail sales reaching 23.744 million units. Retail sales for home appliances and communication equipment at units above a designated size have each exceeded 1 trillion yuan, highlighting the advantages of the country's massive market.
The implementation plan outlines four key priorities. First, it aims to boost consumption of major durable goods by deepening pilot reforms in automobile circulation and consumption, expanding automobile spending across the entire supply chain, and accelerating the adoption of smart home products. Second, it seeks to steadily improve consumption of daily necessities by enhancing the quality of food, beverages, textiles, and sporting goods. Third, it supports consumption of specialty products, focusing on the elderly and children through silver economy and baby product initiatives, while also promoting domestic "trendy" brands, quality foreign trade goods, and international精品. Fourth, it focuses on cultivating and expanding upgraded consumption categories like green, smart, and health products to align with evolving consumer preferences.
Why it matters now
Hong Yong, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, highlighted that the plan's standout feature is its tailored approach, balancing both existing stock and new growth. By concentrating on durable goods and daily necessities, it aims to stabilize the base of commodity consumption. Simultaneously, it accelerates the cultivation of new growth points through targeted policies for the elderly, children, domestic brands, and green, smart, and health spending.
Automobiles, home appliances, home furnishings, and catering, often called the "four pillars" of consumption, account for roughly a quarter of total spending, with automobiles alone representing about 10% of retail sales. This year has seen a flurry of policies to stabilize and expand car sales, including whole-chain expansion measures, new energy vehicle initiatives in rural areas, and trade-in programs for consumer goods. The new plan's renewed emphasis on durable goods like cars and home appliances is expected to provide a powerful boost to these sectors.
Consumer durables are increasingly upgrading toward smart and green options. National Bureau of Statistics data indicates that retail sales of wearable smart devices, including smart glasses, grew over 100% year-on-year in the first seven months of this year. Sales of high-efficiency home appliances at units above designated size grew more than 30%, and communication equipment sales rose 15.1%.
"The focus on these areas in the expansion and upgrade plan is due to their large consumption scale, strong driving effects, and significant growth potential," Hong Yong explained. "Green, smart, and health consumption, in particular, align with consumer upgrade trends and are closely tied to new technologies and industries. This fosters a virtuous cycle where supply-side innovation creates new demand, and consumption upgrades drive industrial upgrades."
Supporting the strategy
The plan also introduces five supporting measures across areas like urban and rural consumption infrastructure, standards for consumer goods, brand development, fiscal and financial support, and market order regulation. On infrastructure, it calls for deepening the development of international consumption center cities and advancing the creation of national demonstration pedestrian streets and business districts, while optimizing the layout of duty-free shops and tax-refund stores.
On the financial front, the plan encourages the use of policies such as interest subsidies for personal consumption loans and loans for service industry operators, as well as pilots for new consumption models. It urges financial institutions to increase credit support for spending on automobiles, home appliances, digital products, and smart homes, while developing a diverse range of financial products within compliance and risk-control boundaries.
Su Jian, a professor at Peking University's School of Economics and director of its National Economic Research Center, noted that the plan clarifies the goals and direction of consumption-promotion policies. Through supply-side structural reforms, it aims to optimize the supply structure of goods and meet multi-tiered consumer demand. As the effects of these policies gradually unfold and the consumer market recovers, consumption growth is expected to remain stable.
Looking ahead, the Ministry of Commerce stated it will work with relevant departments to implement these measures in detail, driving the sustained expansion and upgrade of commodity consumption. This effort is designed to provide strong support for boosting consumption, expanding domestic demand, and building a powerful domestic market.