BEIJING: China will work to further develop consumer services to promote high-quality economic development and meet people’s demand for personalized, diversified and quality services, according to a published guideline.
The directive issued by the State Council set out 20 key tasks, including harnessing the consumption potential of industries such as hospitality, domestic services, elderly care, childcare, entertainment, tourism, sports, education and training.
It is also committed to promoting new types of consumption such as digital, green and health services, creating new consumption scenarios, easing market access, strengthening regulation and providing greater political support for service consumption.
According to the document, China will continue to open up sectors such as telecommunications, education, elderly care and medical care, and ensure the implementation of opening-up measures in areas such as technology services and tourism.
China will expand domestic demand with a focus on increasing consumption, and consumption of services will be the main driver of consumption expansion and modernization, according to a key meeting on Tuesday that set priorities for the second half of 2024.
In the first six months of this year, China’s retail sales of services rose 7.5 percent from a year earlier, 4.3 percentage points higher than that of goods, official data showed.
