BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Benign interaction between demand and supply is the key driver of economic development. To promote this positive interplay, China has written into the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) the need to foster virtuous interaction between consumption and investment, as well as between supply and demand, so as to achieve a higher-standard dynamic balance and strengthen the endogenous momentum and reliability of the domestic economy.
With a population of over 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of more than 400 million, China has become the world's second-largest consumer market. While striving to expand domestic demand, the country has also attached great importance to effective investment. At present, numerous major projects are progressing at an accelerated pace.
"China's pursuit of self-reliance, especially in high-end manufacturing, is essentially a way to support consumption expansion, not replace it," said Professor Su Jian of Peking University.
INDUSTRY POWERS SPENDING
China's manufacturing value-added output is expected to have contributed over 30 percent of global manufacturing growth during the 2021-2025 period, and the country has maintained its position as the world's largest manufacturer for 15 straight years. This extensive industrial system employs hundreds of millions of workers. Without this pillar, rising household incomes would lack a solid foundation.
For example, in Guangxi's Guigang Economic and Technological Development Zone in south China, Guigang Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Limited is building a 27.5 billion yuan (about 4 billion U.S. dollars) integrated pulp-and-paper complex. The project, which will produce high-end tissue products and biodegradable materials in two phases, is expected to generate roughly 10 billion yuan in annual output and create more than 3,000 jobs when its first phase is completed in the first half of next year, said Zhou Yongli, the company's general manager.
Moreover, industrial self-reliance is steadily reducing living costs for consumers. A striking example is new energy vehicles (NEVs). In 2025, China's passenger NEVs accounted for 68.4 percent of the global market. Such large-scale production and industrial chain self-reliance have significantly lowered NEV purchase costs, driving the popularization of green travel.
Furthermore, new infrastructure driven by industrial upgrading is expanding consumption scope. For instance, the spread of 5G and the industrial internet enables farmers in remote mountainous areas to sell their specialties to cities via live-streaming, while the roll-out of low-altitude infrastructure has turned drone food delivery from science fiction into daily life. Also, the construction of a unified national computing network allows an AI agent to book meals, call taxis and register for hospital appointments in seconds.
This is the picture of high-quality development: accelerating the transformation of growth drivers and optimizing structure. On the one hand, it opens up blue ocean markets and nurtures new growth points; on the other, it boosts employment, incomes and spending.
SPENDING LEADS, INDUSTRY LEAPS
From "having it" to "having it better," and "buying goods" to "buying experiences," new consumer demands are guiding thousands of industries in China to innovate and improve the quality of supply.
Driven by strong demand for outdoor recreation, Zhejiang Feima Outdoor Products Co., Ltd. in Qingtian County, east China's Zhejiang Province, is running its leisure chair production lines at full capacity. "Domestic sales now account for about 65 percent of our total, and we expect summer domestic sales to grow three to fivefold," said Wang Lei, the company's chairman.
At the recently held 2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference in Beijing, smart home products catering to people's needs, including AI glasses that can instantly list recipes and guide cooking step by step, smart robot nannies, and sweeping and window cleaning robots, drew large crowds. Many visitors asked: "When will these be on the market?"
In the first 10 months of 2025, online retail sales of smart wearables like AI glasses and smartwatches rose by 23.1 percent year on year. Behind this figure lay the in-depth integration of China's super-large market advantage and its industrial upgrading.
This year's government work report explicitly noted "taking the expansion of domestic demand as our priority," calling for coordinated efforts to boost consumption and expand investment, tap into every potential for growth in domestic demand, and better leverage the strengths of the enormous market.
A total of 250 billion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds will be earmarked for consumer goods trade-in programs, with another 100 billion yuan for introducing a package of coordinated fiscal and financial policies to support private investment and consumer spending.
Zhang Linshan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the relevant policies include not only top-level design but also unprecedented funding support and systematic measures. "They not only directly expand the consumer market, but also create ample room for emerging industries to grow."
"MADE IN CHINA" MEETS "CONSUMED IN CHINA"
For many years, China has pursued a balanced and sustainable path of economic development, integrating consumption boosting with industrial development rather than prioritizing any single sector in isolation.
On the consumption side, trade-in programs for cars and home appliances, along with targeted subsidies for green and smart products, have directly driven up demand. On the industrial side, fiscal support for R&D, tax incentives for high-tech manufacturing, and the development of digital infrastructure have lowered production costs and accelerated product iteration.
When "Made in China" and "Consumed in China" resonate together, with every technological breakthrough in manufacturing lowering the consumption threshold, and every structural upgrade in consumption steering the direction of manufacturing, an endogenous growth loop takes shape that is resilient to external shocks.
In an era of rising global uncertainty, a large economy capable of self-circulation and self-driving is not just a development model, but also a source of strategic security and stability.
Furthermore, the interplay of "Made in China" and "Consumed in China" creates a symphony that benefits the world. On the one hand, the industrial system undergoing transformation offers enormous innovation and investment opportunities for the world. On the other hand, the fast-growing and structurally upgrading super-large market offers the world vast room for demand and a stable anchor for growth.
While outsiders are still debating whether China prioritizes industry or consumption, the answer has already been given by data, and is reflected in the changing lives of ordinary Chinese people. ■
