BEIJING (Reuters) – China will promote stable growth in household income in 2025 by increasing direct financial support to consumers and strengthening social security, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Monday.
China has identified expanding domestic demand as a key task to stimulate growth next year, as large pockets of weakness in the crisis-hit real estate sector continue to thwart a full recovery.
To boost consumption, China will significantly increase funds from long-term special bonds to support industrial development and the consumer goods trade program next year, Xinhua said, citing an official with the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission.
Xinhua said that the steps will focus on enhancing family income by increasing financial spending on consumption, improving social security, creating job opportunities, wage growth mechanisms, increasing pensions for retirees, improving medical insurance support, and policies to stimulate childbearing.
She added that policymakers are considering including more high-demand products with the possibility of substituting them in the scheme, as this program had a “very good” impact this year, without specifying the amount of financing and the products that will be included in 2025.
This year, 150 billion yuan ($20.60 billion) of these bonds have been allocated to support consumer goods, including the refrigerator and TV business, with total sales revenue driven by the scheme exceeding 1 trillion yuan so far.
The unnamed official told Xinhua News Agency, “From the current economic process, we expect annual economic growth of about 5%.”
The official expected the housing market to witness more stability, and called for the adoption of policy measures with a direct impact on the stability of the real estate market as soon as possible, with local governments gaining greater independence to purchase housing stock.
House prices fell at the slowest pace in 17 months in November, official data showed on Monday, thanks to government efforts to revive the sector.
“As an important part of domestic demand, there is still a lot of room for investment in China,” Xinhua said, adding that the country will improve investment efficiency and better target investment.
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