Official data points to the sustained role of consumption as the primary driver of growth in the Chinese economy.
Figures released on 21 January indicate that the contribution rate of consumption to Chinese economic growth was 57.8% in 2019, driving a GDP increase of 3.5 percentage points.
2019 marks the sixth consecutive year that consumption has been the leading driver of China’s economic growth.
Full year social consumer good retail sales in 2019 were 41.2 trillion yuan, for growth of 8%.
China’s Engel coefficient – the proportion of money spent on food as part of household expenses – was 28.2% in 2019, for the eighth consecutive year of decline, in a sign that Chinese living standards are on the rise.
Service consumption s a share of total consumption exceeded 50% for the first time, rising 0.7 percentage points compared to 2018 to reach 50.2%.
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