What to expect from Chinese consumer?

Doha: Chinese consumer spending slowed significantly in Q2 this year, after a strong start in early 2025. In recent months, growth in real terms dr...

Doha: Chinese consumer spending slowed significantly in Q2 this year, after a strong start in early 2025.

In recent months, growth in real terms dropped to the lowest rate since the start of the year.

Importantly, despite new incentive measures to stimulate consumption, household savings rate has been stable, pointing to the difficulty of changing entrenched household habits, QNB said in its economic commentary.

In fact, Chinese households have long been viewed as the missing piece in the country’s economic puzzle and something that goes beyond cyclical patterns.

 Despite government stated efforts to enact a transition from investment-led growth into services and consumption, analysts and policymakers have pointed to persistently low consumption as a drag on growth – especially in a country of 1.4 billion people with rising income levels.