Core Viewpoint - The overall development of China's consumer market is stable, with a notable increase in retail sales and a persistent high savings rate among residents, indicating a need to address systemic barriers to consumption [1][2]. Group 1: Consumer Market Performance - In July, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.88 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%, which is 1 percentage point higher than the same period last year [1]. - From January to July, the total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 28.42 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 4.8% [1]. - The service retail sector saw a year-on-year growth of 5.2%, while the combined retail of goods and services grew by approximately 5% [1]. Group 2: Savings and Consumption Dynamics - As of mid-2025, household deposits increased by 10.77 trillion yuan to 162.02 trillion yuan, with a growth rate of 7.42% [2]. - The growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods during the same period was 5%, with final consumption expenditure contributing less than 60% to GDP growth [2]. - The "high savings - low consumption" phenomenon highlights the need to activate the internal demand engine, particularly addressing the "ease of consumption" issues [2]. Group 3: Enhancing Purchasing Power - Five measures are proposed to enhance residents' purchasing power, including reforming income distribution, stabilizing social expectations, ensuring timely income for key groups, improving enterprise cash flow, and stabilizing property income expectations [4][5]. - Emphasis is placed on increasing labor remuneration and improving the social safety net to alleviate future spending concerns in education, healthcare, and housing [4]. Group 4: Strengthening Consumer Confidence - Building a safety net for consumer confidence involves enhancing basic livelihood protections and consumer rights [6][7]. - Specific measures include optimizing fiscal expenditure for education, healthcare, and elderly care, as well as improving consumer rights protection mechanisms to address issues like personal information leakage and false advertising [6][7]. Group 5: Improving Consumption Environment - The "ease of consumption" aspect requires comprehensive measures to enhance the institutional environment, consumption scenarios, and supply quality [8][9]. - Recommendations include deepening institutional openness, optimizing cross-border consumption, and improving service sector regulations to eliminate regional barriers [8][9]. Group 6: Long-term Mechanisms for Consumption Monitoring - Establishing a "consumption facilitation index" monitoring system is suggested to evaluate the consumption environment across various dimensions [10]. - Continuous policy assessment and feedback mechanisms are essential for identifying and addressing common consumption barriers [10]. Group 7: Systematic Policy Implementation - The focus should be on systematically identifying and addressing key barriers affecting "ability to consume," "willingness to consume," and "ease of consumption" [11]. - Future efforts should aim to eliminate institutional factors that hinder fairness, fill gaps in high-quality goods and services, and strengthen protections in critical livelihood areas [11].

Core Insights - The overall trend of China's consumption market is stable, with a retail sales total of 3.88 trillion yuan in July, a year-on-year growth of 3.7%, which is 1 percentage point higher than the same period last year [2] - The phenomenon of high savings and low consumption reflects that the internal demand engine has not been fully activated, highlighting issues in the "can consume," "dare to consume," and "easy to consume" dimensions [3][4] - The need for systematic identification and resolution of key bottlenecks to effectively stimulate domestic demand through institutional reforms and the establishment of a fair and smooth long-term mechanism [10] Consumption Market Performance - In the first seven months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 28.42 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 4.8% [2] - The retail sales of services grew by 5.2%, while the combined retail of goods and services increased by approximately 5% [2] High Savings and Low Consumption - By mid-2025, household deposits increased by 10.77 trillion yuan to 162.02 trillion yuan, with a growth rate of 7.42%, while the retail sales growth rate was only 5% [3] - The contribution of final consumption expenditure to GDP growth remains below 60%, indicating a significant gap between savings and consumption [3] Key Mechanisms for Stimulating Consumption - The framework of "can consume, dare to consume, easy to consume" is essential for activating internal demand [3] - "Can consume" relates to material basis and actual purchasing power, "dare to consume" pertains to psychological safety and future expectations, and "easy to consume" involves the efficiency of converting willingness into actual behavior [3][4] Recommendations for Enhancing Purchasing Power - Deepening income distribution reform to increase labor remuneration and strengthen the role of taxes and social security in income redistribution [4] - Stabilizing social expectations and reducing precautionary savings through improved macro policy stability and social security systems [4] - Ensuring timely and adequate income for key groups, particularly migrant workers, through various measures [5] Enhancing Consumer Confidence - Increasing investment in public welfare to alleviate burdens in education, healthcare, and elderly care [6] - Strengthening consumer rights protection to address concerns over privacy breaches and misleading advertising [7] Improving Consumption Environment - Promoting institutional openness and facilitating cross-border consumption [8] - Enhancing service quality and creating friendly consumption scenarios through policy guidance and support for new business models [9] Long-term Mechanisms for Consumption Monitoring - Establishing a "consumption facilitation index" to evaluate the consumption environment and continuously optimize policies [9] - Implementing a systematic approach to identify and address common consumption bottlenecks [10]