As 2026 dawns, China has signalled a renewed crusade: persuading its citizens to spend more, for their own benefit and for the country’s. Yet history offers a cautionary tale. China’s leaders have long harboured an ambivalent relationship with consumption as a growth engine, instead favouring production and investment.
This time, though, the signals suggest a deeper resolve.
The gravity of this pivot is underscored by Qiushi, the Communist Party’s flagship publication, which last month published…
Why China is still struggling to ‘invest in people’
