On August 31, the Ministry of Commerce, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Expansion and Upgrading of Commodity Consumption" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Opinions"). A senior official from the Department of Consumer Promotion at the Ministry of Commerce noted that the document outlines the guiding principles, fundamental policies, and overall objectives for boosting commodity consumption during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. By 2030, total retail sales of consumer goods are targeted to reach approximately 60 trillion yuan, with the cultivation of ten-trillion-yuan scale markets in green, smart, and health consumption, driving sustained growth in related sectors. Meanwhile, retail sales in trillion-yuan categories such as automobiles, home appliances, telecommunications equipment, and textiles and apparel are expected to continue rising, maintaining the nation's global leadership in market scale.
Specifically, the Implementation Opinions put forward four key tasks to promote commodity consumption. First, to boost consumption of large durable goods, it aims to deepen pilot reforms in automobile circulation and consumption, expand car consumption across the entire supply chain, and accelerate the adoption of smart home applications. Second, it seeks to steadily improve consumption of daily necessities, enhancing quality in areas like food, beverages, textiles, apparel, and cultural and sports goods. Third, it supports consumption of specialty products, focusing on the elderly and young children, by backing products for seniors and infants, while also promoting consumption of domestic trendy brands, quality foreign trade goods, and international premium items. Fourth, it aims to cultivate and expand consumption of upgraded goods, aligning with evolving consumer needs to boost spending on green, smart, and health-oriented products.
Focus Area: Cultural, Sports, and Entertainment Goods
In terms of cultural, sports, and entertainment goods, the Implementation Opinions call for promoting consumption of high-quality cultural products that are green, smart, adaptable, and creatively designed with national elements. It encourages expanding and optimizing sports consumption scenarios, unlocking the potential of products related to competitive sports, outdoor activities, and fitness and leisure. Supply of traditional musical instruments and smart instruments will be improved, with more consumption settings for instruments. Consumption of 3D-printed products is set to expand. Development and consumption of peripheral merchandise will be encouraged, with improved mechanisms for IP derivative development, higher levels of cultural creativity conversion, and the launch of themed products and travel routes. The IP consumption environment will be continuously optimized, with a stronger focus on protecting intellectual property rights, particularly in areas like industrial design and trademarks.
Focus Area: Products for the Elderly
On consumption of products for the elderly, the Implementation Opinions emphasize strengthening R&D in key technologies and core components, broadening the application of technologies such as brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence in age-friendly products and rehabilitation assistive devices. Efforts will be increased to promote high-quality items from the "Catalogue of Products for the Elderly," bringing products like exoskeleton robots, electric wheelchairs, and smart mattresses, along with devices for health monitoring, incontinence care, patient transfer, and bathing assistance, directly into senior households. A certification system for elderly products will be explored. Commercial and trade enterprises will be encouraged to set up dedicated sales zones for age-friendly products, pushing these items into supermarkets, hotels, communities, hospitals, pharmacies, and elder care institutions.
Focus Area: Smart Consumption
Regarding smart consumption, the Implementation Opinions propose establishing a national pilot base for AI applications in the consumer sector, improving R&D mechanisms for AI products, and launching a range of internationally leading smart consumer goods with high market potential. Adoption of AI-enabled smartphones and computers, smart wearable devices, smart robots, and smart home products will be accelerated. Infrastructure will be built for "AI + Consumption" clusters, collection stores, and AI application experience centers.
Fiscal and Financial Support
The expansion and upgrade of commodity consumption cannot be achieved without fiscal and financial policy backing. To this end, the Implementation Opinions clarify measures to leverage policies such as interest subsidies on personal consumption loans, interest subsidies on loans for service industry operators, and pilot programs for new consumption models, formats, and scenarios, fully utilizing the leveraging role of fiscal funds. Financial institutions will be encouraged, under lawful, compliant, and risk-controlled conditions, to strengthen financial support for consumption in areas like automobiles, home appliances, digital products, and smart homes, by developing a diverse range of financial products. Support will be given for deeper cooperation between financial institutions, merchants, and platforms to jointly develop financial products and services tailored to the characteristics of the consumer industry. Policies for domestic trade credit insurance will be improved, expanding coverage and underwriting scale. Grassroots unions are encouraged, in line with union fund usage regulations, to purchase daily necessities, grain, and cooking oil for various welfare activities.