context: Service consumption and rural resident spending stand as twin growth drivers for lifting homegrown demand, Beijing's chief focus in 2025. Crafting a suitable consumption infrastructure proves vital to freeing this spending capacity. Broadening tourism facilities and establishing consumer hotspots form strategies to strengthen the consumption landscape. Beijing issued Opinions on unleashing sports consumption plus general services consumption throughout September, marking sharper shifts towards demand-supply dual coordination.
Policy measures released by Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments on services consumption represent a forward-looking, systemic and practical initiative, argues Zhao Zhongxiu 赵忠秀 University of International Business and Economics president.
The measures mark a new stage in the PRC consumption policy
- from quantity-focused stimulus to quality-focused upgrading
- from one-sided demand management to coordinated supply-demand efforts
The measures can be summed up in the following rationale
- high-quality supply as an entry point: supply-side reform improves the consumption environment, which unleashes demand potential
- supply-side reform as a basis: expand quality supply to create and guide demand
- improving the consumption environment as a safeguard: lowering transaction costs and making consumption easier
- releasing demand potential as an objective: the above pillars in place will naturally expand demand
The measures differ from previous consumption-boosting policies in three ways
- shifting from goods to services
- earlier policies: target big-ticket goods—cars, and home appliances
- now: clear pivot towards services—spanning culture, tourism, sports, housekeeping, aged-care and childcare
- better aligned with the shift in consumption structure
- from demand stimulus to supply optimisation
- earlier policies: stimulating demand via consumption vouchers
- new measures: stress supply side—expand high-quality service supply to spark and create fresh demand
- supporting museums in innovating exhibitions and performance incentives
- extending opening hours for popular venues
- creating new consumption scenarios: integrate business, travel, culture, sports and health
- systemic coordination and institutional innovation: move beyond short-term stimulus to long-term mechanisms
In the short run, the measures will affect both the size and structure of service consumption
- sustained growth in total service consumption
- current household service consumption accounts for
- 46.1 percent of per-capita consumption
- 63 percent of consumption growth
- policy support likely boosts growth rate and share
- current household service consumption accounts for
- upgraded consumption structure
- policies will steer demand from basic services toward high-quality, diverse and personalised services
- deeper demand potential tapped in culture and tourism, sports, healthcare, childcare and housekeeping
- faster growth of digital and integrated online-offline services
In the short to medium term, sectors closely tied to people’s livelihoods, with clear demand and targeted policy support, will see results most quickly
- cultural, tourism and sports: extremely visible due to strong spillovers and experiential effects
- childcare and housekeeping: ease family pressure and show social and consumption benefits