The Chinese economy is slowing down, with consumer spending continuing to shrink. To boost consumption, nine departments including the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission released on September 16th a set of policies titled “Several Policy Measures for Expanding Service Consumption,” proposing 19 measures in five aspects to increase the time spent on services such as tourism. One of the measures is to shorten the summer and winter vacation periods and introduce “spring and autumn breaks” in primary and secondary schools. The news immediately sparked a heated discussion among mainland netizens.
According to reports from Jinri News, these measures were jointly issued by nine departments including the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Health Commission, and the People’s Bank of China.
The policy encourages local authorities to adjust the teaching and vacation schedules of each school year to set up “spring and autumn breaks” in primary and secondary schools, thereby shortening the summer and winter vacation periods correspondingly to increase the time for travel and other service consumption activities.
Currently, many places such as Hangzhou in Zhejiang and Enshi in Hubei have started implementing these measures one after another.
Following a significant slowdown in July, China’s factory output growth slowed to its lowest level in a year in August. On September 15th, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics announced that in August, the output of factories and mines in China grew by 5.2% year-on-year, the smallest increase since August 2024.
Retail sales, which are a measure of consumption, only increased by 3.4% in August, the lowest growth rate since November 2024 and lower than the expected 3.9% growth rate.
The data indicates that the softening economic situation is worsening, making it increasingly difficult for China to achieve its annual growth target of around 5%.
In order to boost consumption, the officially introduced measure of introducing “spring and autumn breaks” in primary and secondary schools has also sparked lively discussions online.
Many netizens commented, “It’s surprising that they are giving spring and autumn breaks to primary and secondary school students, looks like they are really desperate.” “The problem is that parents might not have time to take them out for consumption.” “If parents are busy, they can join study tours, increasing consumption; skip a few days of school, then make up for it with extracurricular activities, increasing consumption again. Win-win.” “It’s all about money.” “Calculating on the children.” “Instead of solving the real problems, they are focusing on superficial achievements.”
Some netizens also expressed, “Hangzhou has already implemented the spring and autumn break system, during those days parents still have to work, no one to look after the children, just relying on cameras and ordering takeout for them, which is totally unrealistic.” “Similar to adjusting work hours, if big spending on travel can’t be increased, then focus on smaller expenses.” “So besides worrying about where to send the kids during summer and winter vacations, now they have to figure out how to handle the spring and autumn breaks?” “Sigh, can’t we focus on more than just the wallet, but finding ways to increase job opportunities, increase residents’ income, and ensure social welfare? With more money and no worries, who wouldn’t want to spend money on enjoyment?” “Putting the cart before the horse.”
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