Xinhua — Small, medium-sized cities to drive consumption growth

Small and medium-sized cities will play a major role in driving China's consumption growth in the coming decade, according to a Morgan Stanley economist.

Robin Xing, the investment bank's chief China economist, predicted on Wednesday that national annual consumption will rise to 9.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2030 from last year's 4.4 trillion dollars on the sidelines of the Morgan Stanley China Summit in Beijing.

"Third- and fourth-tier cities will contribute nearly two thirds of the increase," Xing said.
The proportion outshines the 9 percent from megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and the 21 percent for second-tier cities. Consumption in rural areas is expected to reach 400 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 7 percent of the total.

Personal consumption in such cities will grow the fastest at 8.7 percent year on year from now to 2030, according to Xing.

The economist, who has headed Morgan Stanley's research team in China for a year, said the promising prospects are based on the rapid population growth in smaller cities and a closing income gap with large cities....

China.org.cn
Small, medium-sized cities to drive consumption growth

Xinhua