China Unveils Plan to Lift Incomes, Spur Spending

China's State Council unveiled on Sunday what it called a "special action plan" to boost domestic consumption, featuring measures including increasing residents' income and establishing a childcare subsidy scheme.

- 

The plan comes as levels of consumer demand in China have suffered various setbacks in recent years, due to factors such as Covid-19 disruptions and a prolonged property slump, chilling the propensity of households to spend and adding to deflationary trends.

The plan was issued to all regions and departments to "vigorously boost consumption, expand domestic demand in all directions, improve consumption capacity by increasing income and reducing burdens," a report from the Council said.