China's urban and rural economy is a typical dual economy, which also leads to the need to distinguish between urban residents' consumption and rural residents' consumption when analyzing China residents' consumption. The rural population in China accounts for a large proportion, but the consumption level cannot be directly proportional to the population proportion. In 2003, the rural population accounted for 59.47% of the total population, but the consumption of rural residents only accounted for 4 1.40% of the national consumption, and the gap between urban and rural consumption and population was 18.07%. Although it has declined compared with previous years, the unbalanced development of urban-rural dual economy is still an important factor leading to the low consumption rate of Chinese residents. Although the income of urban and rural residents is basically the same in relative numbers, we can see that there is an amazing gap between the income levels of urban and rural residents by comparing the base and absolute numbers. The consumption level of rural residents increased from 138 yuan in 1978 to 235 1 yuan in 2005, an increase of 17.34 times. In the same period, the consumption level of urban residents increased from 405 yuan to 9393 yuan, an increase of 22. 19 times, and the average annual growth rate was 0.84 percentage points higher than that of rural residents. The starting point of rural residents' consumption is lower than that of urban residents, and the growth rate is slower than that of urban residents. It is inevitable that the consumption level gap will widen. Generally speaking, the consumption level of urban and rural residents has been greatly improved since the reform and opening up, but for various reasons, the growth rate of cities and towns is faster than that of rural areas, which widens the consumption gap between urban and rural areas. The consumption difference between urban and rural residents is not only reflected in the consumption share, but also in the consumption structure. 1 It can be seen that the food expenditure of urban residents is less than that of rural areas by 10 percentage point, so urban residents can invest more in culture, education, entertainment, insurance, medical care, etc., get higher living security and improve their quality of life. An official survey report from China shows that the income gap between urban and rural areas in China has been widening in recent years, and if non-monetary factors are taken into account, this gap will become the highest in the world. Consumption activities are the purpose of economic activities, and the purpose of all economic activities is to meet people's growing consumer demand; On the other hand, consumption activities are the starting point of economic activities and the driving force of economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to find out the reasons for the consumption differences between urban and rural residents in China by comparing them, analyze the impact of this difference on economic development, and put forward some suggestions for residents' consumption that are beneficial to economic development.