BEIJING - China will strengthen support for consumer services to upgrade the consumptionstructure and bolster economic growth, according to a guideline issued by the State Council.Several key sectors, including health care, senior citizen care, tourism, sports, hotels andcatering, as well as education and training services will be prioritized, said the guideline.
The guideline is China's first such policy document to specifically target consumer services,improving infrastructure for public services and building a better consumption environment forboth domestic and international customers.
Consumer services will be encouraged to expand to rural areas, information infrastructureconstruction in rural areas will be accelerated, and private and overseas capital is welcome toinvest in the elder care industry.
More land and price support will be provided, including favorable land policies for senior citizencare, health care and household services, and lowered transaction card fees in services such ascatering.
The government will work to improve the business and consumption environment throughstrengthened supervision, better intellectual property rights protection and crackdowns on fakegoods.
Given the continued slowdown, China is counting on domestic consumption to replace oldeconomic engines and prop up growth. The economy expanded 6.9 percent year on year in thefirst three quarters of 2015, the lowest reading since the second quarter of 2009.
