City Spending Hubs to Bring Growth

China has set out a host of measures to accelerate the transformation of five cities into international consumption centers, with the aim of creating a globally appealing consumption environment, expanding domestic demand and elevating the international influence of China’s consumer market.

The measures were set out in a policy document released by the State Council, China's Cabinet, last month, which outlined eight key initiatives to be piloted in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing.

The initiatives include promoting the “debut economy”, refining entry policies, enhancing the consumption environment, hosting large-scale consumption promotion events and improving supply quality.

This aligns with the 2025 Government Work Report, which prioritizes vigorously boosting consumption, improving investment efficiency and comprehensively expanding domestic demand. It explicitly calls for a focused campaign to stimulate consumption, with a strong emphasis on advancing the development of cities to become international consumption centers.

Officials and experts emphasized that this policy decision reflects the Chinese government’s strong dedication to elevating these pilot cities to new levels, significantly contributing to enhanced consumption and high-quality development.

The five cities were first designated as international consumption centers in July 2021. Over the past three years, these cities have improved their consumption environments, attracted high-quality global consumer resources and pioneered diverse consumption scenarios.