China is taking significant steps to elevate its service consumption sector, aiming to boost high-quality economic development and satisfy the growing demand for personalized and diverse services among its people. On Saturday, the State Council released a new guideline outlining 20 key tasks designed to invigorate consumer services across the nation.
The comprehensive plan focuses on tapping into the potential of various sectors, including hospitality, domestic services, elderly care, childcare, entertainment, tourism, sports, education, and training. By enhancing these areas, China seeks to foster new types of consumption such as digital, green, and health services, creating fresh consumption scenarios that align with modern consumer preferences.
To facilitate this growth, the guideline emphasizes the importance of relaxing market access and strengthening regulation to ensure a fair and competitive environment. It also calls for increased policy support to encourage innovation and investment within the service industry.
In a move to further open its economy, China will continue to liberalize sectors like telecommunications, education, elderly care, and medical care. The implementation of opening-up measures in areas such as technology services and tourism will be prioritized, promoting international collaboration and exchange.
Recognizing the importance of global engagement, China plans to optimize entry policies and improve consumption environments. Efforts will be made to expedite the resumption of flights, offer diversified payment services, and explore the possibility of granting visa-free entry to more countries, thereby enhancing accessibility for international visitors and investors.
These initiatives are part of a broader strategy to expand domestic demand with a focus on boosting consumption, where service consumption is envisioned as a major driver. According to a key meeting held on Tuesday to set priorities for the second half of 2024, enhancing service consumption is essential for the expansion and upgrading of overall consumption patterns in China.
The positive impact of these efforts is already evident. In the first six months of this year, China’s retail sales of services saw a robust increase of 7.5 percent compared to the previous year, outperforming goods consumption by 4.3 percentage points, as reported by official data.
Reference(s):
China moves to advance high-quality development of service consumption
cgtn.com
