Commentary: The End of China’s Debt-Fueled Consumption Era

To the naked eye, China’s consumer market during the recent October Golden Week holiday looked robust. Tourist sites were packed, and daily travel volume surged.

Yet a deeper dive into the macroeconomic data from the first three quarters of 2026 reveals a profound structural divergence. Chinese consumers are still spending, but what they buy and how much of their income they are willing to part with have fundamentally shifted.