Wei Jianguo, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce: China's new consumption is a revolution in the history of world consumption

At present, many people are very worried about market consumption, believing that the common people have concerns about consumption, and the expansion of domestic demand is afraid that it will be in vain. In this regard, my view is just the opposite, China's lack of domestic demand is temporary, it can be completely overcome, China's economic transformation strategy is being implemented step by step, expanding domestic demand, promoting consumption will surely lead China's economic future, a rapidly developing Chinese consumer market will soon come, and this consumer market will far exceed the United States and the European Union consumer market combined. I firmly believe that in the next 5 years, China will lead the global consumer market, why do you say that? There are three reasons for this:

First, the size of a market and the level of consumption will determine the structure of the global economy and the development of industries in the future

As we all know, China is the world's largest single-market economy today (GDP per capita exceeds $12,000), and with the development of the economy, China's middle class has reached 400 million, and this number is growing. PricewaterhouseCoopers pointed out that China's luxury market will reach $148 billion in 2030, surpassing the United States, while the McKinsey report shows that China's film box office has reached 4.331 billion in the first quarter of this year, equivalent to $600 million, far exceeding the United States. The report also pointed out that the growth of the American middle class and the average consumption are decreasing. PwC even pointed out that by 2035, China's consumer market will surpass that of the United States and the European Union combined.

Don't underestimate this figure, it sends the message that the global economic structure and industrial development will depend on this super-large market, even the slightest change. For example, in biomedicine, the world's pharmaceutical research and manufacturing industry is focused on the Chinese market, China has 140 million cases of diabetes, 600 million arthritis, 290 million heart disease, with the progress of aging, the number of cases is increasing, obese adults alone currently have 200 million in China, and the next 10 years may increase by 100 million. As a result, China has a lot to do in the development of new drugs for healthcare, but in the past 10 years, only 24% of new drugs launched globally have been approved in China, compared to 85% in the United States and an average of 38% in OECD countries. In addition, only 15% of new drugs in the world are reimbursed under China's National Reimbursement Drug List. Therefore, with the development of institutional openness and investment facilitation, China will have a huge room for development in improving the accessibility of innovative drugs. What's more, a series of subversive treatments such as cancer treatment, vaccine stem cell therapy, etc., have attracted the attention of global biopharmaceutical production and R&D companies. According to statistics, the investment in this area reached $262 billion last year, and it will increase significantly in the future. What's more, this year's "two sessions" have put quantum technology and life sciences on the agenda, and a number of future industry pilot areas and new tracks have emerged. According to foreign news reports, the trillion-dollar market is quietly emerging. It is strange that the size of the Chinese market does not affect the development of the global industry.

Second, the rapid advancement of China's modernization will help China to have the best business environment and the most advanced market system in the world

In today's world, competition between countries will ultimately be determined by whether or not they can open up to the outside world at a high level. The high-quality development of Chinese-style modernization requires us to carry out a higher quality and high-level opening up than in the past 40 years. History proves that talent follows technology, technology follows capital, capital follows the market, and a good market environment is more important than anything else. We can no longer adopt the kind of opening up of commodity and factor mobility in the past, but should adopt institutional opening, which is in line with the trend of economic globalization and is a higher level of opening-up. The opening up of rules, regulations, management and standards will help create market expectations and boost the confidence of foreign investment in China. Not long ago, President Xi Jinping visited France, and in his speech, he proposed that "we are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in an all-round way, steadily expand institutional opening-up, further expand market access, and reduce the negative list for foreign investment access, which will provide a broader market space for countries around the world, including France, and bring more opportunities for win-win cooperation." In this regard, I believe that China will introduce more preferential policies, and we ourselves must be more bold, bold to try, and make independent reforms, and strive to promote the emergence of new tracks, new models and new industries in consumption through institutional innovation, and also to let more multinational company headquarters and regional headquarters settle in China, so that more launches, first exhibitions and first shows will be held in the Chinese market, and more exhibitions, professional special exhibitions, academic seminars, art festivals and cultural festivals will be held in China.

Third, the development of the digital economy will accelerate the transfer and creation of new global consumption, and the main battlefield will be in China

Judging from the current global statistics, "traditional consumption" is stabilizing and rebounding, while new consumption has accelerated its "running entry". I always believe that China's new consumption is a revolution in the history of world consumption, and the seed of this consumption revolution is the digital economy, and China will become the main battlefield of this revolution.

The new type of consumption is not only a change in consumption patterns, but also an important symbol of the new stage of high-quality economic development. Compared with traditional consumption, the new type of consumption is mainly characterized by new formats and new models such as online shopping, mobile payment, and online and offline integration. China's digital economy has been at the forefront of the world, with the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things modern information technology as the core to promote consumption more intelligent and convenient, which is an unprecedented revolution in the history of consumption. China's digital economy has been at the forefront, we should not easily deny it, if it has any shortcomings, I think it is only in keeping pace with the times and the integration of online and offline development, coupled with innovation and improvement to work hard, it is easy to say that online platform shopping has destroyed many physical stores is irresponsible, our first and leading is now just beginning, and it is possible to be caught up, we must have a sense of crisis, a sense of urgency, to redouble innovation, to break the channel constraints of traditional consumption scenarios, To achieve the integrated development of online and offline as soon as possible, it is necessary to create conditions to help China accelerate the transformation and innovation of global new consumption through the digital economy. In this regard, we must "promote stability through progress, establish first and then break down", and believe that it is the general trend for China to become the main battlefield of this transformation and innovation.

(The author is vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce)