Demand boost efforts seen as key to growth

Experts call for stronger push to raise incomes, consumer confidence

China should steer its next phase of economic development toward stronger domestic demand while pressing ahead with deeper income distribution reform and more decisive technological breakthroughs, as policymakers seek to rebalance growth drivers amid still-weak domestic demand and intensifying global competition, economists said.

The shift, they said, requires coordinated moves to raise household incomes and consumer confidence, expand high-quality services consumption and push China from a technology "follower" toward a "leader" in key strategic industries, laying the groundwork for more resilient, innovation-driven and consumption-led growth in the years ahead.

Yang Weimin, former deputy head of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, said keeping economic growth within a reasonable range hinges on building a consumption-driven development model, with reform of the income distribution system at its core.