At a roundtable discussion on the weekend, Sheng Songcheng, former chief of the statistics department at the People’s Bank of China, said that with less tax to pay, consumers in these groups would have more money to spend on areas such as aged care.
“Consumption has improved, but is still unsatisfactory in terms of data,” said Sheng, now a professor with the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.
“We should focus more on consumption and let it play a bigger role in driving economic growth.”
02:15
China sees slowest economic growth in over a year with 4.6% GDP in third quarter
China sees slowest economic growth in over a year with 4.6% GDP in third quarter
Sheng suggested that this could be achieved in part by increasing the minimum personal income tax threshold from 5,000 yuan (US$704) a month to 8,000 yuan. The increase would mean the government would lose…
