Economics
China’s Retail Recovery Still Rests on Richer Consumers
- Luxury spending in China will grow 20%-30% this year: BCG
- Poorer Chinese consumers stay cautious amid uneven recovery
Pedestrians walk past a store in Beijing.
Photographer: Yan Cong/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Chinese consumers are finally starting to spend again after the pandemic-induced slump, but the recovery is unbalanced and overly reliant on luxury goods, with poorer Chinese still cautious.
Consumption has started to catch up to the much stronger rebound in industrial output, with retail sales growing in August for the first time this year. Spending on luxury goods, cars and electronics is leading the charge, rising faster than food, clothing and other essentials.