Xi’s genius plan to empower consumers

Cautious spending: A customer shops for vegetables at a supermarket in Nanjing. Private consumption is relatively low in China, accounting for just about 40% of the economy, versus around 55% in culturally-frugal Japan and Germany, and 63% in Brazil. — AFP

CHINA’S president Xi Jinping has finally realised that in a global trade war, the economy with the most powerful consumer base wins.

Boosting domestic consumption is the government’s top economic priority this year, as premier Li Qiang made clear at this week’s National People’s Congress.