China is ramping up efforts to expand domestic demand by placing greater emphasis on boosting consumption, expanding effective investment and raising incomes, as policymakers move to make the vast domestic market a stronger anchor for growth and sustain economic resilience amid external uncertainties, officials and experts said on Friday.
Expanding domestic demand has been identified in the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for national economic and social development as a key priority for economic development over the next five years.
As China begins the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic regulator, said authorities will formulate and release an implementation plan for the strategy to expand domestic demand for the 2026-30 period.
Wang Changlin, deputy head of the NDRC, told a news conference in Beijing on Friday that boosting consumption is "a strategic move to stabilize growth and promote structural upgrading".
His remarks came as official data pointed to a stronger role for domestic demand in underpinning growth. China's economy expanded 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 despite mounting external uncertainties, with domestic demand contributing 84.7 percent of GDP growth during the period, up nearly 30 percentage points from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.
Highlighting the goal of markedly raising the share of household consumption in GDP, Wang said China still has ample room to unlock consumption potential.
"There is enormous potential for expanding consumption, especially service consumption," Wang said.
"Expanding service consumption is essential to unlocking consumption potential," said Wang Yiming, a former deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council.
According to the NDRC, authorities will launch initiatives to enhance the capacity and quality of the service sector, with a focus on public health, smart eldercare, cultural tourism and other areas, while increasing the supply of high-quality, diversified and convenient consumer services.
Meanwhile, China is stepping up effective investment to promote a virtuous cycle between consumption and investment.
China will accelerate the allocation of this year's 755 billion yuan ($110.6 billion) in central government investment funds and 1 trillion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds, with most of the funds expected to be in place by the end of June, the NDRC said.
"To improve the consumption environment, efforts should be made to better coordinate funding channels and accelerate the development of consumption-related infrastructure," said Wang, deputy head of the NDRC.
These include using investment from the central government budget to support facilities for eldercare, childcare, tourism and sports, as well as leveraging ultra-long special treasury bonds to finance equipment upgrades at brick-and-mortar commercial venues, he added.
Meanwhile, Wang said China will speed up the rollout of new types of policy-backed financial instruments worth 800 billion yuan.
Analysts cautioned, however, that the recovery in consumption still needs to be consolidated. Lian Ping, director and chief economist of the Guangkai Chief Industry Research Institute, said consumer confidence is likely to improve gradually as pro-growth policies continue to gain traction and the job market strengthens, with consumption growth expected to be soft at first before stabilizing later in the year.
For foreign companies, the stronger policy push to boost domestic demand points to broader market opportunities and robust long-term growth prospects.
"We remain confident in investing in China and growing with the country, as it is one of the world's most dynamic consumer markets," said Ramon Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo.