Bloomberg News:
The five-year plan issued by the MOFCOM states that the total volume of retail sales of consumer goods will increase by 5% in the following five years, which is much lower than the GDP growth rate, as we all noticed that this year China's economic growth may exceed 6% and the figures were even higher in the past few years. Why has the MOFCOM set such a conservative target? Do you think it will benefit China's dual-circulation if total consumption is low in some private businesses?
Zhu Xiaoliang:
I will answer this question. Since the reform and opening-up, China's retail sales of consumer goods have maintained sustained and rapid growth. In recent years, as people's income has increased, the domestic consumption structure has upgraded, transforming from commodity consumption into service consumption. The proportion spent on Chinese service consumption is increasing. In the first half of this year, the proportion spent on service consumption by Chinese residents reached 52.5%. As far as we estimate, this proportion will continue to increase along with the improvement of the people's living standards. Against such a backdrop, China's retail sales of consumer goods have registered a slower but stable performance. In the next period, service consumption will continue to grow rapidly and with an increasingly higher proportion. Regarding stability, we aim to achieve a growth of 5% in the retail sales of consumer goods in the next stage. Thank you.
