The idea that investment and consumption are in zero-sum tension overlooks how confidence, not income, is the true bottleneck
However, this growing consensus risks simplifying a far more complex question: what exactly is the role of consumption in China’s growth, and is its perceived weakness truly the root of the country’s economic challenges?
In more ideological corners, this economic trajectory is portrayed as the result of a development playbook that prioritises national power and industrial dominance over household welfare. The implication is clear: China will never become a “normal” consumer-driven economy because it lacks the political incentives to do so.
Moreover, in public perception, building a “consumption-oriented economy” has begun to sound like the end goal in itself – a necessary badge of economic maturity and a way for China to finally enter the ranks of developed economies.
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