A state produces to consume. If there is no demand for consumption, there is no production. This has nothing to do with consumerism or capitalism, it simply is how an economy works. People want to eat, live and enjoy life - these are all consumption and in order for the people to have that, you have to produce.

A certain level of consumption is obviously needed to keep up living standards. However, capitalist relations drive frivolous consumption where people consume for the sake of consuming. An economy exists to make sure people’s needs are met, that they have housing, food, healthcare, education, public infrastructure, and so on. Making disposable trinkets is not what an economy is.

There are plenty of ways people could be spending their time instead of consuming. Playing sports, having parties, going camping, reading books, studying, building hobby projects. The notion that life has to be structured around consumption is beyond absurd. I grew up in USSR, and consumption was a very small part of your daily life. Things were built to last, you didn’t constantly buy new phones, new TVs, new clothing and so on. There’s no need for that.

Local governments work with the central government. They don’t exist in a vacuum. And the central government understands the problem at least as well as you do. In fact, I would wager the experts there might even understand it a bit better.

Meanwhile, the idea that China cares what IMF thinks is frankly laughable. The reason China is doing exports is because that creates soft geopolitical power, and it helps friendly countries develop. The EU isn’t even a major export target for China anymore. The main focus is in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

The CPC simply tends to be conservative with its policy, which is a reasonable approach to take.