A new wave of consumption, led by young people and centered on emotional value, is surging across the nation. From coffee and tea beverages, domestic trend cultural products, and performance exhibitions to anime-related spending, night-time economy, and community-based commerce—from city strolls and immersive experiences to platform content creation and interest-based community consumption—this trend is not only invigorating the consumer market but also infusing cities with a vibrant source of vitality. This burgeoning sector, known as the "youth economy," is arriving with a unique logic of "understanding you" and a stance of "supporting you," emerging as a striking "youthful vitality" in China's economic landscape.
Data provides the most compelling evidence of the surging power of the youth economy. In 2024, the market size of China's youth economy has risen to 4.3 trillion yuan, accounting for a significant 68% of the new consumption sectors. The youth economy is far from merely "young people spending money"; its core lies in "youth creation," representing an organic integration of "youth-driven creative supply" and "growth-oriented development consumption." Nowadays, youth consumption has shifted from a simple consideration of "cost-performance" to pursuing "heart-value ratio"—emotional resonance and cultural identification. More critically, young people themselves are the most敏锐的创新者—turning niche passions into marketable ventures, revitalizing traditional culture with contemporary flair, defining new business formats with creativity, and creating value through passion, ensuring the youth economy possesses both烟火气 (vitality of daily life) and innovative power.
As the "15th Five-Year Plan" commences, examining the 2026 government work reports of 31 provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities) reveals a significant increase in "youth content," with various regions regarding the youth economy as a crucial vehicle for stimulating new consumption vitality. Shanghai has explicitly positioned the youth economy as a key development area during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, recently collaborating with 12 units to launch a comprehensive policy "service package" covering full-chain services from store location selection and financial support to intellectual property protection. Similarly, the Huaqiao Economic Development Zone in Kunshan, Suzhou, leveraging its advantage of over 50% youth population, has meticulously built three 100-billion-yuan industrial clusters in digital economy, headquarters economy, and R&D economy. It has successfully implemented the innovative model of "users as developers," directly transforming youth wisdom into regional development momentum.
Shifting focus to the national level, signals supporting the youth economy are equally clear and strong. During this year's National Two Sessions, the Communist Youth League Central Committee submitted the "Proposal on Cultivating and Developing the 'Youth Economy' to Inject New Momentum into High-Quality Development," advocating for the strategic importance of the youth economy. Recently, 15 national departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Deepening the Construction of Youth Development-Oriented Cities to Assist in Building Modern People-Centric Cities," systematically introducing 18 specific measures aimed at optimizing the development environment for youth, ensuring they can "enter, stay, live securely, and achieve success." From national top-level design to Shanghai's full-chain empowerment, and the continuous emergence of practical and effective measures across regions, a grand stage is being collectively built—allowing youth creativity to take root, entrepreneurship to find support, and growth space to expand—demonstrating China's firm determination to cultivate the youth economy.
The steady and long-term development of the youth economy hinges on the mutual commitment and symbiotic prosperity between youth and cities. Youth are the source of urban vitality; they revitalize old streets, activate industrial heritage, and enrich cultural formats with their creativity, giving new life to century-old streets, transforming闲置空间 into trendy landmarks, and infusing cities with youthful character and innovative energy. Cities are the harbors for youth growth; regions should embrace youth individuality with inclusivity, respond to youth demands with practical services, lower barriers to entrepreneurship, optimize living配套设施, and cultivate fertile ground for innovation, enabling youth to gain growth through奋斗 and realize value through creation. This mutual commitment represents共生共荣—youth成就城市的当下, cities成全青年的未来. This is the core code for the youth economy to transcend short-term热潮 and achieve long-term development.
When youth thrive, the nation thrives; when youth are strong, the nation is strong. The surging momentum of the youth economy is a manifestation of youth vitality and, more importantly, a集中体现 of the confidence in China's development in the new era. Currently, as China's economic transformation and upgrading are at a critical juncture, the characteristics of youth—daring to explore, experiment, and innovate—highly align with the era's demand for cultivating new quality productive forces and stimulating domestic demand. The youth economy can not only drive consumption, create employment, and催生 new business formats but also nurture an innovation ecosystem,凝聚 development momentum, and inject源源不断的青春力量 into high-quality development.
The times do not辜负奋斗者, and China does not辜负追梦人. Looking ahead to the future of the youth economy, it paints a beautiful picture of youth茁壮成长, cities持续进阶, and national繁荣发展 resonating in harmony. With national top-level design providing保驾护航, local pragmatic measures offering用心托举, and hundreds of millions of youth逐梦奋斗, a youthful China is demonstrating its utmost sincerity in understanding, supporting, and enabling youth, ensuring every passion finds an echo and every dream can blossom.
