The long-sought growth transition from export reliance to domestic consumption has been slow to progress. The unveiling of a stand-alone five-year plan for consumption , targeting retail sales of 60 trillion yuan (US$8.9 trillion) by 2030, is not merely a quantitative goal, but a declaration of economic determination. The short-term lift to retail sales of electronic devices and appliances helped generate over 1.1 trillion yuan in sales in the first half of 2026. Faced with a softening domestic market, China’s carmakers have turned to sharp discounts, triggering a downward spiral into profit-killing price wars . BYD’s exports, for example, surged by nearly 74 per cent in the first half of 2026, even as its domestic sales fell by 38.5 per cent.