<p>Cultural consumption is often regarded as a tangible form of embodied cultural capital, which can be converted into economic returns and drive economic development. However, while existing studies have largely established this link theoretically, empirical evidence on the causal relationship between them remains scarce due to limitations in data availability. This paper uses panel data from 287 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2022 and employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method to evaluate economic development effects of Cultural Consumption Expansion (CCE) policy in China. The findings reveal that the CCE policy significantly enhances both the quantity and quality of economic outcomes, increasing total GDP, per capita GDP, and total factor productivity (TFP) by 7.8%, 2%, and 1.4% respectively, but it does not affect the growth rate. Drawing on consumer city theory, the CCE policy facilitates economic development through consumption enrichment, industrial structure upgrading, and population and talent agglomeration. The results confirm that cultural consumption primarily facilitates human capital accumulation through embodied cultural capital. This study offers valuable theoretical and empirical insights into the transformation of economic development and the construction of consumer cities, providing implications for China and other developing countries.</p>