{"slug": "china-faces-economic-balancing-act-ai-and-exports-boom-while-consumers-stay-home", "title": "China faces economic balancing act: AI and exports boom while consumers stay home", "summary": "China's top leadership held two high-level meetings to address economic imbalances, aiming to sustain an AI and export boom while boosting domestic consumption. Premier Li Qiang chaired a State Council meeting pledging breakthroughs in AI and expanded commercial roll-out, while Wang Huning convened a separate meeting on forging a strong domestic market to spur demand.", "body_md": "# China faces economic balancing act: AI and exports boom while consumers stay home\n\nTwo high-level meetings show that Beijing is aware of economic imbalances as Politburo prepares high-stakes growth assessment next month\n\n[boost consumption](https://sc.mp/ivil8?utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=3356759&utm_medium=share_widget)at home.\n\nThe meetings were the latest sign that Beijing aimed to sustain the AI and export boom while also addressing macroeconomic weak links, said Larry Hu, Macquarie Group’s chief China economist. The top leadership was aware of the pronounced imbalance and even strains in the Chinese economy, where the divergence between sectors posed risks to achieving growth targets, he added.\n\n[Premier Li Qiang](https://sc.mp/dpuac?utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=3349707&utm_medium=share_widget)chaired a State Council meeting which included a briefing on the latest AI developments. The meeting pledged to accelerate\n\n[breakthroughs in AI](https://sc.mp/wqxwd?utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=3358854&utm_medium=share_widget), vowed to build ultra-large computing clusters and promised to secure high-quality data and talent. It would also expand the commercial roll-out, relying on China’s advantages including a complete industrial system and diverse application context.\n\nOn the issue of foreign trade, the meeting highlighted the importance of maintaining China’s trade momentum while calling for expanding imports.\n\n[Wang Huning](https://sc.mp/rtmf7?utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=3356993&utm_medium=share_widget), chairman of top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), convened a separate meeting on forging a strong domestic market to spur demand, Xinhua reported.\n\nThe meeting heard policy recommendations on boosting consumption and expanding investment, after a number of political parties and entities had conducted surveys and inspection trips across the nation. Specific issues discussed included a national unified energy market, urban-rural land reforms, expanding cultural consumption and enlarging the space for effective investment.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/china-faces-economic-balancing-act-ai-and-exports-boom-while-consumers-stay-home", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3358906/china-faces-economic-balancing-act-ai-and-exports-boom-while-consumers-stay-home?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-06-30 10:00:26+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-30 10:32:03.980533+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Macquarie Group", "Larry Hu", "Li Qiang", "Wang Huning", "Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference", "Xinhua"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/china-faces-economic-balancing-act-ai-and-exports-boom-while-consumers-stay-home", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/china-faces-economic-balancing-act-ai-and-exports-boom-while-consumers-stay-home.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/china-faces-economic-balancing-act-ai-and-exports-boom-while-consumers-stay-home.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/china-faces-economic-balancing-act-ai-and-exports-boom-while-consumers-stay-home.jsonld"}}