China optimises lower-tier markets to boost domestic consumption

Beijing (ANTARA) - China on Tuesday (18/8) announced a series of measures to optimise consumption potential at the county and small-city level, tapping the vast lower-tier market as a source of domestic demand and new economic growth.

Under guidelines jointly issued by China’s Ministry of Commerce and several other authorities, the government called for improving consumption channels at the county level, including renovating township commercial centres, rural markets and local people’s markets, encouraging domestic and international brands to open first stores in various regions, and promoting the redevelopment of existing land resources to improve services.

The guidelines also called for improving services that meet the needs of elderly residents and children, more efficient urban-rural distribution networks, and strengthening employment at the county level, while providing more channels for people to increase their incomes.

The measures come as China seeks to give consumption a greater role in driving economic growth.

Lower-tier markets, which generally cover third-tier cities and smaller cities, county-level areas, townships and rural areas, account for about 70 percent of China’s population and 60 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods. These markets now serve as an important link between urban and rural economies and a key part of the domestic economic cycle.

Lower-tier markets have diverse needs at various levels, said Shen Bing, a researcher at an institution under China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). According to him, this diversity can provide ample room for businesses to develop new service models while creating new momentum for consumption growth.

Official data show that retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas rose 2.4 percent year on year (yoy) in the first seven months of 2026, or 1.3 percentage points faster than in urban areas. Retail sales at the county and township level are estimated to account for nearly 40 percent of total sales in China.

More than 2,800 county-level administrative divisions in China form a vast and diverse domestic market, said Chen Xi, a researcher at the NDRC. He said that consumption growth is gradually spreading from large cities to county-level markets, providing a domestic source of consumption growth.