March 6 (Reuters) – China’s effort to pivot its economy toward consumer spending will take a long time, even as Beijing embraces a softer growth target to signal a greater focus on rebalancing its growth drivers, a central bank adviser told Bloomberg TV on Friday.
Huang Yiping, a member of the monetary policy committee at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said investors should temper expectations for “aggressive” stimulus as the government does not see itself in a “crisis time”.
“Consumption can only be boosted through a gradual process,” Huang said in an interview. “You can’t expect that the government does something through macro policy and consumption picks up dramatically.”
The world’s second largest economy has set a slightly lower 2026 growth target of 4.5% to 5%, down from last year’s 5%, which was met largely through a one-fifth surge in its trade surplus to a record $1.2 trillion.
Analysts have said a lower growth target gives Beijing more flexibility to adopt reforms to make economic growth less reliant on exports, after the record surplus in 2025.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim in Barcelona; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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