Politburo Meeting Calls for Expanding Quality Supply to Unlock Service Consumption Potential; 2025 Services

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting on July 30 to analyze the current economic situation and deploy economic work for the second half of the year. In terms of expanding domestic consumption demand, the meeting proposed adapting to the consumption needs of different groups, expanding quality supply, and tapping the potential of service consumption.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first half of the year, total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 2.7% year-on-year, while service retail sales grew by 5.3%, a relatively high growth rate. In 2025, China's services value added reached RMB 80.9 trillion, accounting for 57.7% of GDP. The contribution of services to economic growth rose from 55.1% in 2020 to 61.4% in 2025.

Deputy Director of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Trade in Services Zuo Xiaobo stated at a special press conference that the Ministry of Commerce will promote the expansion of service consumption and intensify efforts to expand the supply of quality services. Efforts will focus on improving the supply level in areas such as culture, entertainment, tourism, leisure, and sports events, promoting integrated development of commerce, tourism, culture, sports, and health, and using experiential service consumption to drive upstream and downstream goods consumption.

Regarding the consumption trend in the next stage, Deputy Director of the National Bureau of Statistics Mao Shengyong noted that the conditions for consumption expansion and quality improvement in China are favorable. China has a population of 1.4 billion, a large population base, a growing middle-income group, and per capita GDP approaching the level of high-income countries. From the perspective of the development stage, the consumption structure is in a period of transition and upgrading, with residents' demand for high-quality goods, leisure, culture, entertainment, and other service consumption rising. As the unified national market deepens, the supply of quality consumption increases, and consumption-boosting policies take effect.