文章给出的应对是进行经济再平衡，提高消费在GDP中的比重。北京长期希望家庭提高消费，但真正的消费主导增长需要大规模升级公共服务和更完善的社会安全网，使居民可以少存更多花。总理Li Qiang将增长目标定在4.5%至5%区间，这是1991年以来最低区间，显示出整体脆弱性。财政压力解释了政策上的犹豫：据Rhodium Group分析，2025年政府财政状况持续恶化，尽管税收小幅上升，但非税收入却大幅下滑；地方政府土地出让金在房地产崩溃后已降至2021年水平的一半以下。在这种情形下，推迟改革看似合理，但文章认为这将是误判。
产业政策曾帮助中国在关键矿产领域与美国竞争中占据优势，但这种胜利带来了国内的社会代价。即使自2024年以来，汽车和家电补贴计划也主要在帮助制造企业应对需求疲弱。重大的消费潜力在于整合约2亿零工及更大的流动劳动群体；这部分人因公共服务较弱，储蓄率大约是城市居民的两倍，若实现完全城市化融合，消费有望释放。因此，前国家发展研究中心前副主席Liu Shijin提出通过发行专项债，在未来几年投入10万亿人民币（约1.45万亿美元）用于医疗、住房和教育。文章还提到，春节联欢晚会这场时长4小时、观众超过6亿人的节目中，后来的一段合唱呼吁投资人民，其核心信息是发展应同样重视人的价值。
With population decline and a property downturn, China adopted a technology-led model. The model has delivered some success, but it has not yet generated broad-based wealth, so the article says this contradiction must be resolved in the 15th Five-Year Plan, unveiled at the opening of the National People’s Congress. Instead of depending mainly on industrial giants such as BYD and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., Beijing should implement its “investing in people” slogan. The old belief that the tech sector would eventually absorb enough workers is no longer sufficient, because structural unemployment has emerged: the youth unemployment rate has stayed above 15% for six months, prompting talk of a “lost generation” and a rise in “lying flat,” which more often reflects limited opportunity than laziness.
The proposed remedy is rebalancing toward consumption, increasing its share of GDP. Beijing has long wanted households to spend more, but true consumption-led growth requires heavy upgrades to public services and a stronger social safety net so people can spend more and save less for precaution. Premier Li Qiang set a growth target of 4.5%–5%, the lowest level since 1991, indicating broad economic fragility. Fiscal stress helps explain policy caution: Rhodium Group’s analysis says fiscal conditions kept worsening in 2025, with only a small rise in tax revenue but a sharp fall in non-tax revenue; land-sale proceeds of local governments fell below half of 2021 levels after the property crash. In that environment, delaying reform may seem prudent, the article argues, but it would be a strategic mistake.
Industrial policy helped China gain strategic leverage over the United States in critical minerals, yet that success carried domestic social costs. Even the consumer subsidies since 2024 for cars and appliances largely cushioned manufacturers facing weak demand. A major untapped consumption lever lies in integrating around 200 million gig workers and other migrant labor; this group saves roughly twice as much as urban residents because services are weaker, so full social integration could unlock more spending. Economist Liu Shijin has proposed, across several years, issuing special bonds totaling 10 trillion yuan (US$1.45 trillion) for healthcare, housing, and education. The article also cites the Spring Festival Gala—a four-hour broadcast watched by more than 600 million people—where a later act celebrated ordinary workers, underscoring that development should value people as much as industry.