China Consumer Dashboard

Research evidence excerpt

China Consumer Dashboard

Goldman Sachs China Consumer Dashboard

total household assets have plateaued at around RMB730tn in recent quarters

(2026Q1 the latest reading). The key shift is that household asset growth is now

rotating away from housing toward financial assets. On the liability side, our tracker

shows household leverage has started to drift lower since mid-2024, primarily

reflecting a decline in outstanding mortgage balances and short-term consumer

loans.

n Official consumer confidence softened: After seasonal adjustment, the NBS

consumer confidence index slipped modestly in April-May (latest available), versus

Q1. Given the lag in NBS releases, we also monitor Morning Consult’s daily consumer

sentiment surveys, which offer a timelier and more granular read on household

sentiment, though with a bias toward higher-income groups1. These surveys point to

an improvement in consumer confidence in Q2 vs. Q1, with the increase

broad-based across age and income groups.

n Others: In mid-July, China’s State Council approved the “15th Five-Year Plan for

Expanding Consumption,” underscoring consumption as a medium-term policy

priority amid softer retail sales. In our view, the measures are largely medium-term

and supply-side oriented, suggesting limited near-term support given weak

labor-market conditions, subdued income expectations, and ongoing negative

property wealth effects.

1 The NBS consumer confidence index is based on a monthly telephone survey of more than 6,000 urban and

rural consumers across 15 provinces. By contrast, Morning Consult’s China survey targets the internet

population, which tends to be higher-income and more optimistic.

19 July 2026 2