The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant authorities, have jointly issued the 15th Five-Year Plan on Expanding Consumption. The plan sets out development guidelines, objectives, key tasks, and policy measures for the consumer sector during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
The plan specifies several quantitative targets. Total retail sales of consumer goods are expected to reach about 60 trillion yuan. The consumption rate of residents will markedly increase, and the proportion of per capita service consumption expenditure in per capita consumption expenditure will rise steadily. In addition, development-oriented and improvement-oriented consumption will keep growing, the scale of digital consumption will continue to expand, and consumption gaps between urban and rural areas, regions, and groups will gradually narrow.
To enhance consumption capacity, the plan aims for new progress in high-quality full employment, synchronized growth of household income and economic growth, and a more optimized and sustainable social security system, thereby strengthening consumers' confidence and stabilizing expectations. On the supply side, the quality of goods and services will continuously improve, the supply system will become more complete, consumption formats and scenarios will be more diverse, and the alignment between supply and demand will further improve. Regarding the consumption environment, standards and credit systems for key products and services will be more robust, consumption infrastructure will be further upgraded, and convenience, comfort, and satisfaction will significantly increase.
The key tasks cover 28 measures in six areas: promoting quality and benefits in service consumption, advancing the expansion and upgrading of goods consumption, cultivating new consumption formats, models, and scenarios, enhancing consumption capacity, optimizing the consumption environment, and improving institutional mechanisms to boost consumption. The plan also includes nine special columns addressing the silver economy, childcare products and services, cultural and tourism consumption, health consumption, and automobile consumption, with detailed implementation steps.
Officials from the NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce stated that the formulation of the plan involved intensive research on the consumption development trends and phase-specific characteristics during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, and a holistic design of approaches, targets, and major measures. The plan features a focus on benefiting the people, integrated advancement, and innovation-driven growth. On benefiting the people, it addresses the upgraded consumption demands in elderly care, childcare, culture and tourism, health, and other areas by expanding high-quality supply, enriching platforms and carriers, and strengthening support to improve living standards. In terms of integrated advancement, it balances short-term and long-term, supply and demand, government and market, and coordinates consumption policies with other economic and social policies. For innovation-driven growth, it makes institutional arrangements for developing digital consumption, promoting first-store economies according to local conditions, and fostering experiential consumption, thereby injecting new momentum into consumption development.
In 2025, China's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 50.1 trillion yuan. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, final consumption expenditure contributed an average of 58.8% to economic growth, up 10 percentage points from the previous period. The plan notes that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the consumer market will enter a crucial phase of expansion and quality improvement, supported by a solid consumption foundation, clear upgrading trends, and vibrant innovation in consumption scenarios.