Recently, the 14th Five-Year Plan for Commerce Development was officially released, proposing that China will establish several comprehensive international consumption hub cities rooted domestically, radiating to neighboring regions, and oriented toward the world. This represents a new highlight in current reform, opening-up, and economic development. Focusing on building these international consumption hub cities will help advance high-level opening-up, elevate people's livelihoods to new heights, and accelerate the formation of a new development paradigm.
International consumption hub cities represent a core function of modern global metropolises. They serve as focal points for consumer resources and commanding heights in national and global consumer markets, exerting powerful leadership and driving forces in consumption. Historical patterns across nations indicate that the emergence of multiple global metropolises—built upon refined institutional mechanisms, enhanced resource allocation efficiency, and elevated economic development quality—is a concentrated manifestation of societal progress and improved public welfare.Advancing the development of international consumption hub cities is a crucial step in building modern global metropolises.
The core objective of developing international consumption hub cities should be the sustained improvement of people's living standards. This requires ensuring a modern urban infrastructure system and public service system that are livable and conducive to business, supported by distinctive modern industrial systems. Building international consumption hub cities must be advanced as a systematic project.Leveraging superior urban environments and internationally competitive industrial clusters, we must effectively enhance urban vitality and residents' purchasing power, forming the dominant force supporting the development of internationalized consumer markets. Building modern infrastructure systems and public service support systems requires better leveraging the role of government. Since the reform and opening-up, urbanization has achieved tremendous success. However, due to its primary reliance on market functions for resource aggregation and allocation, significant shortcomings remain in the construction of infrastructure systems and public service support capabilities.Advancing the development of international consumption hub cities requires accelerating the elimination of these shortcomings. Infrastructure systems and public service capabilities in relevant cities must be built to high standards, moving from mere existence to excellence. Progressing the development of international consumption hub cities demands adherence to global standards while maintaining Chinese characteristics. Deepening reforms of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics—including the development of property rights systems and factor markets, pilot free trade zones, and the creation of internationalized, law-based business environments—must be closely integrated with the practical efforts to build these hub cities.Through institutional and systemic improvements, we must enhance the soft environment of cities, promote industrial development and international competitiveness, deepen integration with global markets, and further refine systems and mechanisms via opening up. By comprehensively improving both the hard and soft environments of cities, we support the construction of international consumption hubs. These hubs should become new high grounds and models for China's reform and opening up.
The development of international consumption hubs must be implemented with meticulous attention to detail. Efforts should focus on promoting differentiated development of urban commercial districts, upgrading pedestrian streets to high standards, fostering vibrant, distinctive, and culturally rich pedestrian zones, actively developing smart neighborhoods and commercial districts, and enhancing the convenience and intelligence of urban facilities.This effort should be closely integrated with broader strategic initiatives to expand domestic demand, cultivate a robust domestic market, facilitate the domestic economic cycle, promote the dual domestic and international circulation, and accelerate the formation of a new development paradigm. Tangible progress and a renewed outlook should emerge promptly.