English – The Conversation | With a shrinking population, China needs new drivers of growth. Consumer spending has yet to fill the gap by Xiujian Peng, Senior Research Fellow, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information. China’s recent national accounts show the economy growing about 5 % through 2025 and into early 2026, but the underlying drivers have weakened: household consumption remains modest, exports are slowing amid global uncertainty, and a rapidly ageing, shrinking workforce now drags growth by several percentage points. While productivity still supplies the bulk of expansion, the contribution from foreign demand and domestic consumption turned negative after 2017, and investment growth has faltered, leading to a reliance on ever‑slower productivity gains that may not offset demographic headwinds. Consequently, China’s growth is increasingly shaped by demographic decline and muted productivity, with limited evidence that consumer spending is becoming a stronger engine, a shift that could curtail global demand for Chinese‑exported goods while opening opportunity for other developing economies. Read more: https://theconversation.com/with-a-shrinking-population-china-needs-new-drivers-of-growth-consumer-spending-has-yet-to-fill-the-gap-281342 #China #productivity #automation #demographicdecline #globaldemand