- Consumption set to slump after population tops out in 2025, says Cai Fang, a member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee
- Beijing must ‘increase labour participation and social security benefits’ for the elderly to shore up consumer demand, he says
China’s population is set to peak in just four years’ time and the milestone will be marked by a significant downturn in consumer demand, an adviser to the central bank has warned.
“When the total population enters negative growth [after 2025], there will be a shortage of demand,” Cai Fang, a member of the monetary policy committee of the
, was quoted as saying in a report by Shanghai Securities News on Friday.
“We need to pay attention to the impact of demographics on future consumption.”
Cai, who joined the central bank’s advisory body last month after retiring from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the number of Chinese of working age had been in decline since 2010, which had mainly affected the supply side of the economy.