China has huge potential for boosting domestic demand: officials

BEIJING, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's domestic demand, the main growth engine for the world's second-largest economy, has huge potential for continuous expansion, officials said in an economic roundtable event broadcast on Monday.

The country has broad space for invigorating domestic demand by revving up investment and consumption, the officials said in the ninth episode of the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency.

As the country strives to promote technological innovation and industrial upgrading, and to improve infrastructure and public services to meet the people's aspirations for a better life, there is significant potential to boost investment growth, said Zhao Chengfeng, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner.

Zhao said the country has allocated about 6 trillion yuan (about 834.84 billion U.S. dollars) in government investment funds so far this year. These funds have supported the implementation of major national strategies and the building up of security capacity in key areas, facilitated post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, strengthened disaster prevention and relief efforts, and backed projects to improve livelihoods, boost employment and spur consumption.

"These projects are expected to play an important role in driving this year's economic growth and fulfilling the full-year economic and social development targets," Zhao said.

He highlighted several sectors that require increased investment, including green energy, new infrastructure, water conservation projects, emerging industries, future-oriented sectors, and areas related to people's livelihoods.

He took the underground pipeline network upgrades as an example, saying he expected it to generate an investment demand of 4 trillion yuan in the next five years.

Speaking about the country's consumption growth prospects, Yang Nie, an official with the Ministry of Commerce, expressed a highly optimistic outlook. Yang noted that the country has a vast market of more than 1.4 billion people, 190 million business entities, a complete industrial system and various consumption scenarios that are thriving.

Yang said that as Chinese people's living standards have continued to rise, consumers now focus more on services, consumption experience, and green and low-carbon products, generating new demand and opportunities for consumption.

As the country's pro-growth measures gradually take effect, signs of improvement in domestic demand have begun to emerge. The country's fixed-asset investment grew by 3.4 percent year on year in the first 10 months of 2024, while retail sales, a main gauge of consumption, expanded at a faster pace of 4.8 percent in October, official data showed.