Xi Eyes Consumers to Lead New Era for China’s Unbalanced Economy

For decades, China’s leaders have failed to heed calls to rebalance the economy toward consumption as they pursued an investment-heavy, export-oriented growth strategy.

Now, an historic change is planned that — if successful — stands to reshape China’s economic relations with the world. In coming days, President Xi Jinping and his officials will unveil the 15th Five-Year Plan, including a goal to spur a “significant increase” in consumption by 2030 — language more urgent than previous Communist Party calls on domestic spending.