Robots walk the runway at a
hanfu (a traditional Chinese costume) cultural festival and the 2025 fall/winter
hanfu new collection launch event in Caoxian county, Shandong province, on Nov 22. GUO XULEI/XINHUA
China's economic expansion is increasingly being shaped beyond its biggest cities, as county-level markets become a critical source of consumer growth and a testing ground for companies seeking the next wave of demand, industry reports said.
Consumption remained the largest contributor to the country's growth momentum in the first half, with final consumption expenditure adding 2.1 percentage points to GDP growth, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
