How China effectively aligns industrial upgrade with consumption boost in World Economy News 27/04/2026 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 Outd