China will step up efforts to improve its fiscal and monetary policy in order to boost domestic consumption and enhance people's well-being, as the country accelerates toward becoming a major hub of global demand, officials said on Sunday.

As the nation further unleashes the potential of its ultra-large domestic market, executives said during the ongoing China Development Forum 2026 that the country's expanding demand, strong industrial system and rapid innovation capabilities are creating growing opportunities for multinationals.

Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said that China will move faster to become a major hub of global demand, building on its strength as a global manufacturing powerhouse.

Such a structural shift, he said, will require sustained reform efforts, with the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) outlining measures to boost household consumption as a share of GDP, such as by improving income distribution and enhancing social security.

Financial support for the economic transformation will also be increased, Pan said, as the central bank will maintain a supportive stance and use policy tools such as the reserve requirement ratio, policy interest rates and open market operations to keep liquidity ample.

"China's social financing conditions remain accommodative, with total financing growing at a reasonable pace," Pan said, noting that consumption's contribution to the country's economic growth has risen from 37 percent in 2010 to 52 percent in 2025.

Finance Minister Lan Fo'an stressed a stronger focus on public services to improve people's well-being, a move to further foster growth led by domestic consumption.

Lan said that China will increase investment in people — raising the share of public services spending in fiscal expenditures and channeling more government investment toward livelihoods — over the next five years.

Multiple measures will be taken to ease the cost of elderly care and child care, including providing consumer subsidies for elderly care, implementing a subsidy system for child care, and improving free preschool education, the finance minister said.

Kim Fausing, president and CEO of Danfoss Group, said China's push to expand domestic demand — especially through green, high-quality consumption and industrial upgrading — creates clear opportunities for the Danish technology and engineering conglomerate.

"It (China) offers a stable and growing market for our competitive innovations and sustainable solutions," Fausing said.

According to Fausing, China offers unique advantages: a pool of engineering talent, unmatched speed in scaling innovation, and a dynamic industrial ecosystem in which sustainable technologies are tested and refined.

Pan, the central bank governor, said that China's industrial competitiveness is underpinned by a vast market that enables the commercialization and iteration of innovation, complete industrial and supply chains, an abundant workforce with over 72 million highly skilled professionals, and sustained research and development investment, which has grown more than 10 percent annually on average in the past five years.

"Some international views still attribute China's industrial competitiveness to 'unreasonable government subsidies'," Pan said, adding that those with such opinions are welcome to "visit China more and see more" to gain a more accurate and comprehensive understanding.

He added that China is promoting fair competition by banning local governments from using inappropriate policies to attract investment, while financial institutions are being guided to better assess risks and avoid overextending credit to sectors facing excessive and unsustainable competition.

Recognizing that China is increasingly becoming a global innovation leader, Morten Wierod, CEO of ABB Group, said the Swiss technology company sees strong alignment between its priorities and China's development goals under the 15th Five-Year Plan, such as in the areas of electrification, automation, artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing.