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当前我国消费发展的特点、问题分析和政策思考 | 宏观经济
清华金融评论·2025-05-29 10:16

Core Viewpoint - The current consumption market in China is showing enhanced vitality and heat, but there are still constraints to sustained improvement. Future policies should better coordinate the relationship between benefiting people's livelihoods and promoting consumption, supply innovation and demand upgrading, as well as current and long-term considerations to effectively expand consumption [1]. Group 1: Consumption Characteristics - The characteristics of consumption in China are marked by rapid growth, new products, new business formats, and new scenarios [2]. - Consumption is maintaining a moderate growth trend, with significant vitality in the market. Key features include rapid growth in service consumption, the emergence of new products and business models, and the rise of consumption in county areas [3]. Group 2: Service Consumption Growth - Service consumption is experiencing good growth, driven by policies that promote service consumption and the expansion of consumption scenarios. The focus is shifting from separate development of categories like dining and tourism to integrated and multi-faceted development [4]. - In 2024, China's service retail sales are expected to grow by 6.2% year-on-year, outpacing the growth of goods retail sales by 3 percentage points. Per capita spending on services is projected to increase by 7.4%, accounting for 46.1% of total per capita consumption expenditure, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous year [4]. Group 3: New Products and Business Models - New technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence are accelerating consumption innovation, leading to rapid development of new products, business formats, and scenarios. The smart home market is expected to reach 780 billion yuan in 2024, with smartphone shipments projected at approximately 286 million units, a year-on-year increase of 5.6% [6]. - Online retail is also thriving, with a 6.5% growth in physical goods online retail expected in 2024, outpacing the overall retail growth by 3 percentage points. Live streaming and instant retail sales are showing strong growth, with sales increasing by 19.1% and 13.8% respectively in the first three quarters of 2024 [6]. Group 4: County-Level Consumption - Since 2023, consumption in county areas, particularly in lower-tier cities and rural regions, has become more active. The coverage of county-level tourist attractions has increased significantly, with a rise from 73% in 2012 to 93% in 2023 [7]. - Travel orders from lower-tier cities are expected to grow by nearly 20% in 2024, with outbound travel ticket purchases from residents in third-tier cities and below accounting for over 30% of the total, more than doubling from the previous year [7]. Group 5: New Consumer Groups - The influx of residents from Hong Kong and Macau into mainland cities is creating new consumption dynamics. In 2024, the number of Hong Kong residents traveling north is expected to reach 81.91 million, with total spending exceeding 55.7 billion yuan, both up over 50% from the previous year [8]. - The optimization of visa-free policies has led to a significant increase in inbound tourism, with the number of eligible individuals rising by 113.5% year-on-year in 2024. The diversity of tourist sources and the appeal of lesser-known destinations are also increasing [8].