China's consumer market is finding new sources of growth in the services and smart products sectors, reflecting changing shopping patterns as the country seeks to strengthen domestic demand.
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Consumption remained the largest contributor to China's economic growth in the first three quarters of 2026, contributing 46.7 percent to the growth, up 0.7 percentage points compared to the first half of this year, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.
Services consumption emerged as a prominent sector. Retail sales of services rose 5 percent year-on-year in the period, outpacing the growth of retail sales of goods by 4 percentage points, as China's consumption structure continued to evolve.
Technology-based products became another source of new demand. Sales of smart glasses on major platforms monitored by the ministry surged 110 percent year-on-year in the first nine months. Meanwhile, sales of exoskeleton assistive devices and tangible intelligent robots increased 46.4 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively.
Guotai Haitong Securities stated in a research report that artificial intelligence (AI)-based glasses are moving from the initial trial stage to mass market adoption as the industry enters a growth phase.
Demand for environmentally friendly and health-related products is also continuing to rise. Organic food sales on major platforms monitored by the ministry rose 6.4 percent year-on-year during the period. Meanwhile, retail penetration of new energy passenger vehicles reached 67 percent in September.
These new trends are taking shape as China intensifies efforts to boost consumption and strengthen the integration between technological innovation and consumer demand.
China has issued new guidelines to encourage the application of AI and other advanced technologies in the trade sector as part of efforts to expand consumer demand, improve the quality of conventional businesses, and increase the efficiency of goods distribution.
China's AI industry is growing rapidly, with AI-powered smartphones, intelligent connected vehicles, and humanoid robots among the products seeing widespread adoption.
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