China needs silver and young spenders, plus policy support, for consumption growth: HSBC

Young consumers’ spending on anime, comics, games and pop toys, alongside growing wellness expenditures by senior consumers, will continue to shape China’s consumption landscape this year, according to HSBC Holdings.Against this backdrop, the coming nine-day Spring Festival holiday was set to benefit the food, hotel and tourism sectors, HSBC said in a trend report, adding that this tailwind would propel first-quarter growth in the food sector, particularly for snack food and dairy products.From a macroeconomic perspective, 2026 was not on track to outperform 2025, but renewed policy support would ensure steady growth, as current government stimulus measures to boost consumption had started to fizzle out, the report said.HSBC expected more policy support for domestic demand this year, with the “two sessions” in March as the next venue for the release of such possible measures.China’s total retail sales growth in December slowed to 0.9 per cent from a year earlier, due to a high base, with the catering sector growing 2.2 per cent and retail goods edging up 0.7 per cent. Last year, total retail sales reached 50.1 trillion yuan (US$7.2 trillion), up 3.7 per cent over the previous year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.HSBC identified Hong Kong-listed companies Laopu Gold, Chinese bubble tea maker Guming Holdings, toy brand Pop Mart and budget retailer Miniso as firms that, despite facing a high growth base this year, boasted clear strategies for driving new revenue streams and expanding their customer bases.“The global enthusiasm for Labubu, its most popular product, has been a key growth driver for Pop Mart,” said Lina Yan, consumer analyst for Hong Kong and mainland China at HSBC. However, she added that if the trend slowed down, there would be “some uncertainty” about the group’s growth outlook for 2026.