Economic expert Teng Tai’s suggestion of issuing 1000 yuan shopping vouchers to every individual has once again become a hot topic, drawing attention. Teng Tai’s recent remarks have struck a chord with many, as he pointed out the core issue of China’s economy: being stuck in the inertia trap of “investment dependence” while overlooking that consumption is the ultimate goal of economic growth. However, some analysts point out that although the CCP has been advocating for “expanding domestic demand,” without changing the economic system, it is difficult to achieve.
On January 7, 2026, economist Teng Tai’s proposal to “give everyone 1000 yuan shopping vouchers” surged in the hot search rankings, sparking discussions among numerous netizens.
Blogger “Wabibabu Bu Ciyou” expressed that at first glance, it sounds like a windfall. However, instead of cheers in the social circle, there were some who sighed: “1000 yuan? Not enough to pay last month’s rent,” “It’s not that we don’t want it, but we are all too aware of how little this money can do under the heavy pressure of life.”
Last year in Shanghai, there were 10 billion consumption vouchers introduced, offering discounts like 100 yuan off for every 1000 spent or 1000 off for spending 10000. Many people commented, “If you manage to get one, it’s luck; if not, it’s normal. Besides, it just saves a meal’s worth.”
At the “2025 Sohu Financial Annual Forum” held in Beijing on November 27, 2025, economist and President of Vanbo New Economy Research Institute, Teng Tai, discussed the topic of “consumption prosperity and China’s future,” emphasizing the need to boost Chinese consumption by unconventional means such as distributing trillion-level consumption subsidies, promoting hundred-billion-yuan state-owned equity transfer to social security, and more.
Netizens believe that a total subsidy of trillions, on average, translates to issuing 1000 yuan shopping vouchers per person nationwide.
Over the past few years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s economy has been persistently sluggish. Unlike some Western countries, the CCP authorities have not implemented a “universal cash distribution” rescue plan. Instead, some local governments have issued consumption vouchers, but the amounts are generally small, with many of these vouchers being more like discounts from businesses with no cash value.
Following the pandemic, China’s economic recovery has been challenging, with weak consumer spending, slowing economic growth, and persistent deflationary pressures. Experts from various fields have repeatedly urged authorities to distribute money to the people to boost consumption. However, despite the topic of “stimulating consumption by giving money” repeatedly trending, it has been difficult to put into action.
In early 2024, former Director of the National Bureau of Statistics and Chief Economist of Jufeng Investment, Qiu Xiaohua, discussed the distribution of consumption vouchers and digital currency in a program. He suggested that the government should consider issuing consumption vouchers or digital currency to the public, such as distributing 1000 yuan to each person, to stimulate consumption and drive economic growth. He emphasized that while the government believes stimulating investment can resolve corporate difficulties, consumer spending can also help businesses get through tough times.
During the Chief Economists Forum in China in early August 2024, Chief Economist of China Merchants Fund Research Department, Li Zhan, believed that with the current high employment pressure on college students, the government could provide some job subsidies; for low-income groups, direct cash distribution could be considered.
On August 13, China Daily reported that Zhang Ming, Deputy Director of the Institute of Finance of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, suggested that the government should provide direct support to low- and middle-income groups, possibly by increasing the fiscal deficit or issuing special national bonds to distribute consumption vouchers, with a scale of at least 1 trillion yuan.
The CCP authorities have consistently ignored experts’ suggestions and continued to introduce so-called trillion-dollar economic stimulus plans. Starting from 2024, they have issued consecutive trillion-long-term special national bonds for several years, but these plans have primarily been used for implementing so-called major national strategic projects and key area security capacity building, rather than benefiting the general public.
According to a report by Southern Metropolis Daily, Teng Tai previously stated that a core issue facing China’s economy is severe excess investment, with many regions investing heavily in recent years, leading to phenomena like “ghost towns, empty roads, and unsold products” in projects like characteristic towns, highways, and factories, rendering the investments unable to translate into effective outputs.
He specifically mentioned a set of data: the total fixed-asset investment in 14 provinces across the country exceeded the respective provincial GDP in 2018, indicating that “each unit of investment did not generate a unit of GDP.”
He believes that given the oversupply of investments in the past, China should realistically accept low growth in investments in the future, even occasional negative growth in certain years, and prudently lower the investment growth rate. He emphasized the need to continue expanding effective investments represented by artificial intelligence and computing power to address international competition, while significantly reducing inefficient or ineffective investments.
In his view, China’s growth model in the past two decades had been driven by bank credit for real estate, infrastructure, and factory equipment investments with no relation to the capital market. However, if future growth is driven by entrepreneurial innovation, not only is it related to the stock market value, but also connected to the returns from the capital market.
“Boosting consumption is not just a means to expand demand for economic growth; it is the ultimate goal of all human economic activities,” Teng Tai stated.
Over the past few years, the CCP has repeatedly emphasized “expanding domestic demand,” from the release of the “Strategic Outline for Expanding Domestic Demand (2022-2035)” in December 2022 to the “Measures for the Restoration and Expansion of Consumption” (“20 Measures”) on July 31, 2023. However, consumption still struggles to be boosted.
Chinese problem expert Wang He once pointed out that one of the fundamental reasons is that the CCP dares not confront the systemic and structural factors restricting Chinese consumption, and the policies introduced are merely superficial changes that cannot make a significant impact. Facing immense economic challenges, the CCP authorities have essentially lost the ability to rescue themselves.
He explained that the three profound reasons for China’s weak consumption—low proportion of disposable income of Chinese residents to GDP, large income disparity, and a rapid increase in leverage ratio in the household sector—reveal the exploitative nature of the CCP’s economic system. Therefore, while the leadership in Zhongnanhai shouts slogans like “common prosperity,” “expanding consumption,” and “expanding the middle-income group,” without truly addressing these three underlying issues, discontinuing the exploitation, Chinese consumption will never see a substantial boost.