BEIJING: China has unveiled measures to expand and upgrade consumer goods consumption, aiming to bring total retail sales of consumer goods to around 60 trillion yuan (about 8.85 trillion U.S. dollars) by 2030, according to an implementation guideline made public on Monday.
The guideline, jointly issued by seven government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission, calls for fostering 10-trillion-yuan markets in areas such as green, smart and health consumption by 2030.
Retail sales of trillion-yuan product categories, including automobiles, home appliances, communications equipment, textiles and clothing, are also expected to continue growing, with these markets remaining among the world’s largest.
The guideline outlines four major tasks to promote goods consumption, namely promoting the consumption of durable goods, improving the quality of everyday consumer goods, supporting consumption of specialty products and fostering demand for upgraded products.
It further specifies measures that include expanding automobile consumption across the entire industrial chain, promoting smart home applications, supporting consumption of products for elderly people and children, and boosting consumption of green, smart and health products.
The guideline also calls for improving urban and rural consumption facilities and consumer product standards, strengthening brand development and fiscal and financial support, and maintaining order in the consumer goods market.
The guideline comes after the release of China’s first five-year plan dedicated exclusively to expanding consumption in July. The plan seeks to better tap the potential of the country’s vast market, optimize the consumption structure and improve people’s livelihoods.
As part of the efforts to bolster consumption this year, China plans to earmark 250 billion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds for consumer goods trade-in programs and create a 100-billion-yuan special fiscal-financial coordination fund to facilitate domestic demand expansion.
In the first half of the year, consumer goods trade-in programs generated 1.1 trillion yuan in sales, benefiting consumers on 150 million occasions. During the period, 3.71 million automobiles and 63.27 million home appliances were traded in, while purchases of digital and smart products totaled 79.1 million units, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
In the first seven months of this year, China’s total retail sales of consumer goods reached 28.77 trillion yuan, up 1.2 percent year on year. –Agencies
