China's rapidly expanding consumer market offers a strong link between China and the world, as well as a huge opportunity for international businesses, said a report released by the McKinsey Global Institute.

By 2030, the report revealed that 58 percent of Chinese households are likely to be in the mass-affluent category or above, and the spending of urban Chinese consumers is converging with that of their counterparts in cities around the world.

China's consumer markets are already heavily integrated with the world and penetration by multinational corporations is considerable. 

Across the 10 large consumer categories, their average penetration was 40 percent in 2017, compared with just 26 percent in the US.

Despite discussion about a "consumption downgrade," McKinsey's 2018 Global Consumer Sentiment Survey showed that 26 percent of Chinese respondents were trading up overall, compared with 17 percent in 10 other top economies.

McKinsey estimates that services are the next frontier for competition leading to higher quality, since Chinese service sectors still lag behind other countries with productivity of only 20 to 50 percent of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average, the report said.

China's increasing outflows of people - particularly students and tourists - is an expanding business opportunity for businesses in destination countries, so companies can take advantage of such trends by adapting to Chinese tastes.

China's consumption market has maintained overall stability so far this year, thanks to a slew of government policies.

At the beginning of June, three ministry-level authorities including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, released plans to promote the upgrading of key consumer products for recycling resources.

Consumers were encouraged to replace old home appliances consuming high energy with new energy-saving and intelligent ones. Some brands have already launched promotion campaigns, compensating consumers for the replacements.

As the biggest driver of China's economy, consumption remained stable overall with total retail sales of consumer goods up 8.1 percent year-on-year in the January-May period. 

The growth is expected to hit 8.2 percent in the first half of the year, said Wang Bin, deputy director of the Department of Market Operation and Consumption Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce on July 5.

Key drivers of consumption also maintained stable growth. For instance, China's online retail sales came in at 3.86 trillion yuan ($560.97 billion) in the first five months, accounting for over one-fifth of the country's total retail sales of consumer goods, industrial data showed.

China's rural areas also continue to unleash consumption potential, with retail sales totaling 2.34 trillion yuan in the first five months of 2019, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Moreover, as China officially approved 5G commercial services in early June, a new round of consumption demand will be stimulated. 

Consumption of high-definition televisions, intelligent home appliances and VR/AR products is expected to see rapid growth.