China plans to take a new package of measures to further boost consumption in continued efforts to promote national economic development, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, senior officials with the Ministry of Commerce briefed media on the steps to boost consumption.
"The Ministry of Commerce will expand consumption in mainly four aspects. First, efforts will be made to upgrade commodity consumption and stabilize the overall consumer market. We plan to tap into the demand for commodity renewal and upgrading from the demand side. Second, steps will be taken to expand service consumption and make exploration for further consumption growth. We will strive to increase the supply of quality services to better meet the people's demand in service consumption," said Li Gang, director of the Ministry of Commerce's Consumption Promotion Department, at the press conference.
"Third, new types of consumption will be cultivated to enhance the consumption momentum. Since the Spring Festival earlier this year, humanoid robots and the 'Ne Zha 2' animated blockbuster have been quite popular. This has showcased the surging vitality of new forms of consumption. And fourth, there will be efforts to innovate consumption scenarios and stimulate consumption vitality. Nowadays, residents have been paying more and more attention to the experience of consumption. Therefore, innovating diversified consumption scenarios has become an important method to boost consumption and improve the quality of residents' life," Li said.
Meanwhile, digital consumption is a focus that the ministry will put more efforts in, so as to facilitate the development of digital consumption and stimulate consumption potentials.
"We will strengthen research on policies related to digital consumption, take further actions to promote the relevant campaigns in an in-depth way, put more focus on digital products, services, contents and channels, guide local governments to introduce practical measures, and manage to enrich diversified supply for digital consumption through industrial guidance and cultivation, model demonstration and technological innovation," said Wang Pengfei, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's E-Commerce Department.
In addition, the ministry will continue organizing online shopping events, highlighting trade-in programs and service consumption, helping business operators to roll out more high-tech and high-value-added digital products and services, stepping up the integration and application of cutting-edge technologies, such as AI large models and virtual reality, as well as creating an increasing number of immersive, experiential and diversified consumption scenarios, according to the officials.
China to take new measures to further boost consumption: authorities
