Accelerating the release of demand and expanding household consumption (Policy Interpretation)

With the consent of the State Council, 23 departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued and issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting Consumption Expansion and Quality Enhancement and Accelerating the Formation of a Strong Domestic Market" (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions"). The "Opinions" put forward 19 measures to promote the expansion and quality improvement of consumption from six aspects: market supply, consumption upgrade, consumption network, consumption ecology, consumption capacity, and consumption environment, helping to form a strong domestic market.

● Expansion of consumption is an important focus to hedge the impact of the epidemic

The new crown pneumonia epidemic has impacted China's current and future consumption, especially in areas such as shopping, catering, tourism, culture, education, and entertainment.

"Releasing suppressed and frozen consumer demand, cultivating and growing new-type consumption and upgraded consumption that have been spawned in the prevention and control of the epidemic, so that physical consumption and service consumption can be replenished. This is one of the important points for hedging the impact of the epidemic. "Chang Tiewei, deputy director of the Division of Employment Income Distribution and Consumption of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that while doing a good job in epidemic prevention and control, it is of great significance to promote consumption expansion and quality improvement.

Since last year, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have launched a series of policies to promote consumption, and various localities have successively introduced a number of targeted measures, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and other places to build a new platform for upgrading consumption by fostering nighttime economies.

"The" Opinion "is the undertaking and development of previous policies." Chang Tiewei said that he not only inherited the previous policy guidance of updating consumption and cultural tourism consumption, but also integrated into the new model, new business format and new industry in the development of new consumption. .

To expand consumption, the key is to follow the trend of resident consumption upgrade, open up the "blocking points" and "pain points" in the consumption field, remove the obstacles to the system and mechanism that restrict consumption, and improve the governance capacity in the consumption field. "Opinions" adhere to the main line of supply-side structural reforms, seize the most potential consumption areas and strive to improve supply, and constantly improve consumption policies, optimize the consumption environment, and stabilize consumption expectations.

Chang Tiewei introduced that the "Opinions" pay more attention to service consumption in terms of consumption types; highlight holiday and night consumption in terms of consumption time; accelerate the cultivation of new models such as online and offline integration in terms of consumption patterns; and focus on launching county-level consumption engines in terms of consumption regions ; In terms of consumer groups, focus on enhancing the consumption capacity of low- and middle-income groups, and promote the majority of urban and rural residents to consume, willing to consume, and dare to consume.

● Accelerate the construction of information infrastructure and build a "smart +" consumption ecosystem

Cloud fitness, cloud shopping, cloud shopping, cloud reading ... Since the outbreak, "business on the cloud" has developed rapidly. "Mobile phone ordering and delivery to home" has become the first choice for people to buy fresh necessities and medicine during their homes.

"New consumer formats and models represented by online shopping have shown strong development potential in this epidemic." Chang Tiewei said that the online retail sales of physical goods in China accounted for 20.70% of the total retail sales of consumer goods in China in 2019. About 8.52 trillion yuan, it is expected that the online retail sales of physical goods this year is expected to exceed 10 trillion yuan.

"With the epidemic being gradually controlled, China's consumer market will usher in a new round of rapid development opportunities." Said Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Market Economy of the Development Research Center of the State Council, especially in the entertainment, education, medical and other fields. The innovative service model has been recognized and accepted by consumers, which will greatly promote the further improvement of new business models and new models, and drive more service consumption online.

The "Opinions" put forward 4 specific measures to cultivate new formats and models of consumption, and accelerate the construction of a "smart +" consumption ecosystem.

Accelerate the construction of a new generation of information infrastructure. Accelerate the construction and commercialization of information infrastructure such as 5G networks.

Encourage the development of new consumption models such as online and offline integration. Improve the "Internet +" consumer ecosystem, promote online and offline interaction, and business travel style synergy.

Encourage consumers to use green smart products. Encourage enterprises to use the Internet of Things, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies to promote the intelligent upgrade of various electronic products, and accelerate the development of new information products such as virtual reality and wearable devices.

Vigorously develop the "Internet + social services" consumption model. All departments will promote the online and offline integration and development of services such as education and training, medical care, elderly care services, infant care, and sports events.

"The" Opinions "proposes to build a 'smart +' consumption ecosystem to adapt to the current trend of smart and online consumption. While promoting consumer capacity expansion and quality improvement, it will better guide the industry to intelligent and green development, and promote the industry and Consumption upgrades, "said Wang Yun, a researcher at the China Academy of Macroeconomics.

● Continuously improve consumption capacity and build a urban-rural integrated consumption network

Consumption mode is online and offline. There is urban and rural consumption space. To improve consumption and expand capacity, it is necessary to realize the coordinated and interactive development of urban and rural markets. What are the "hard bones" to open up the integration of urban and rural consumption and expand consumption at the grassroots and rural levels?

"At present, there is still a" stuck neck "link in consumer infrastructure." Chang Tiewei said, for example, inadequate service and consumption infrastructure, the shortcomings of consumer facilities in some emerging urban areas and rural areas, and the unreasonable distribution of urban commercial facilities.

Wang Wei said that to build an integrated urban-rural consumer network, on the one hand, it is necessary to promote the construction and development of consumer center cities, accelerate the promotion of mid-to-high-end consumption and serve the development of the consumer market, and form a group of large-scale consumption and strong consumption radiation. The international consumption center with outstanding consumption innovation and leading ability and international influence has become China's leading demonstration base for quality improvement and capacity expansion.

The Opinions propose to further improve the duty-free industry policy and improve the supply of imported goods. Support central cities to strengthen the "first store economy" and "first launch economy", encourage internationally renowned brands to launch or launch new products simultaneously in the Chinese market, and at the same time adjust and optimize the collection of some consumer tax items.

"On the other hand, we should accelerate the sinking of the consumer market, build a platform for cooperation and exchange between Internet companies and poor areas, promote the two-way circulation of industrial products to the countryside and agricultural products into the cities, and promote the sales of agricultural products with special advantages in rural areas, especially those in deeply poor areas. To better meet the consumer demand in the rural market and carry out consumer poverty alleviation. "Wang Wei said.

The income level of residents is directly related to the consumption capacity of residents, and the expansion and improvement of consumption cannot be separated from the improvement of consumption capacity.

"In order to improve the consumption capacity of residents, we should focus on improving the income capacity of middle-income groups and enhancing basic security, and promote the reform of the income distribution system." Wang Wei said, opening up channels for low-income groups to flow upwards, steadily expanding middle-income groups, and working hard to reduce residents Income gap, and speed up and improve the income incentive mechanism for knowledge-based, skill-based and innovative workers.

"People's Daily" (March 28, 2020 02 edition)