Commerce minister asserts sunny outlook for consumption in China

Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said on Tuesday that consumption in China would continue to grow at a fast pace in 2016 and that recent yuan fluctuations would not impact trade performance, Reuters reported. Consumption accounted for 66.4% of China’s GDP growth in 2015, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, and business surveys have shown continued growth in the country’s services sector as old drivers of growth like manufacturing face a rapid slowdown. Gao also suggested that Beijing did not view the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership as targeting China, adding that said trade pact and China’s own Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership were moving in the same direction.