With the Chinese New Year festivities, a pay raise is certainly good news for millions of China’s civil servants. But it’s far from sufficient to rejuvenate the economy, says political observer Bo Zhiyue. AUCKLAND: China is pulling out all the stops to bolster domestic consumption . In January, millions of civil servants across China reportedly received their first significant pay raise in a decade, with their monthly basic salaries bumped up by at least 500 yuan (US$68), backdated to mid-2024.