New type of consumption opens up new space for domestic demand

  In recent years, driven by technological empowerment and consumption upgrades, relying on the deepening application of new technologies such as the Internet, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, new types of consumption have flourished, which has played a role in meeting the living needs of residents, unleashing consumption potential, and promoting stable and healthy economic development. It has become a new space for consumption growth and a new driving force for economic development.

In this issue, experts are invited to discuss related issues.

  host

  Xu Xiangmei, director of the theory department and researcher of Economic Daily News

 Digitalization and intelligence give birth to new forms of consumption

  Moderator: What formats and models are included in the new consumption?

What are the typical characteristics of new consumption that are different from traditional consumption?

  Wang Yun (Deputy Director of the Institute of Foreign Economics, China Academy of Macroeconomics): New consumption refers to continuously adapting to the trend and direction of household consumption upgrades, using various new technologies to achieve efficient matching of supply and demand, production and sales, and forming a series of new formats and models. , new scenarios and new services, so as to effectively meet consumers' demand for better products and services, and promote the high-quality development of consumption.

The new type of consumption is not static, but is constantly changing with technological progress and changes in the level of economic and social development.

  The new type of consumption has obvious characteristics of digitization, networking and intelligence, and mainly includes the following four types of formats and modes.

  First, online shopping and other online commodity retail formats.

my country is the world's largest online retail market, and online shopping has become the main consumption mode of consumers. As of December 2021, the number of Internet users in my country reached 1.032 billion, of which 842 million were online shoppers, accounting for 81.6%.

The utilization rate of online shopping among netizens born in the 1980s and 1990s reached 93%, and the proportion of online consumption among the elderly is also rising rapidly. 52.1% of the elderly netizens use online shopping.

New models such as live streaming, short video sales and social retail are also developing rapidly.

  The second is new online service formats such as "Internet + service".

Online health and medical services, online entertainment, online fitness, and online travel are becoming the new driving force and new space for the recovery of consumption.

At present, there are more than 1,700 Internet hospitals across the country, and the coverage rate of telemedicine service counties (districts and cities) has reached more than 90%.

As of December 2021, the number of online medical users in my country has reached 298 million, a year-on-year increase of 38.7%, making it one of the fastest-growing areas of user scale.

Cloud tourism, cloud drama viewing, and cloud exhibitions have become new fashions for leisure and entertainment consumption.

Emerging sports such as smart fitness, cloud events, and virtual sports promote the intelligent development of national fitness.

  The third is new models such as contactless consumption.

In the context of the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, the demand for consumer safety and convenience has spawned the rapid development of contactless business models and formats such as smart supermarkets, smart stores, smart restaurants, and smart business districts.

Local governments have actively encouraged the development of smart business models by increasing the coverage of 5G network commercial applications. For example, the Beijing Fang business district has built the world's first "5G + virtual reality" smart business district, enabling 3D real-life walking navigation in the business district.

  Fourth, new forms of platform-based and shared consumption.

New business formats such as food delivery, online car-hailing, instant courier, and shared accommodation continue to develop rapidly, helping to unleash consumption potential and improve quality of life.

Takeaway delivery provides a third option for catering consumption besides home cooking and dine-in, while online car-hailing provides a new way for travel consumption.

According to statistics, as of December 2021, the number of take-out users in my country has reached 544 million, and take-out accounts for about 21.4% of the national catering revenue; the number of online car-hailing users has reached 453 million.

  The new type of consumption is in line with the trend of rapid upgrading of residents' consumption to development, enjoyment and quality consumption. Compared with traditional consumption, it has strong innovation, growth and adaptability, creating new space for medium and long-term growth. in the following respects.

  One is deep integration.

The integrated development of online and offline, formats and scenarios is one of the typical characteristics of new consumption.

Online ordering and booking, offline experience and delivery are becoming more and more common, and online and offline integrated consumption has increasingly become the dominant consumption mode.

The cross-border development of consumer formats such as "cultural tourism + shopping", "cultural tourism + health care" and "entertainment + shopping" provides consumers with more choices.

  The second is configuration efficiency.

The new type of consumption achieves a more efficient allocation of consumption resources by promoting a better match between production and consumption, supply and demand.

Based on big data, producers can respond to new changes in consumer demand in a timely manner, and the digitalization of marketing, logistics, payment and other links promotes supply chain innovation, so that consumer demand can be effectively met.

With the help of the Internet, medical resources can be optimally allocated across time and space, and the quality, accessibility and convenience of medical service consumption can be improved.

  The third is the sustainability of development.

Relying on the Internet and digital technologies, new consumption expands the reach of traditional goods and services consumption, which helps to improve the use value of goods and services and reduce supply costs, which not only increases the richness and diversity of supply, but also promotes sustainable consumption. and high-quality development.

Such as shared consumption, with the help of "Internet +", it is possible to replicate services anytime, anywhere, in batches, expanding the scale of consumption and improving the production efficiency of the service industry.

  The fourth is circulation smoothness.

The new type of consumption has more prominent advantages in promoting the smooth circulation of production, circulation and consumption.

Online shopping, smart retail, etc. make demand data traceable and predictable, promote the development of flexible supply chains, and have a higher degree of matching between product categories, scale and market demand space.

Express delivery, instant retail, etc. will help to promote the digitalization and intelligent upgrading of circulation links, promote the opening of blocking points and connection breakpoints, and improve circulation efficiency.

Promote the consumer market to cultivate new opportunities in the process of differentiation and reorganization

  Moderator: Under the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, what role has new consumption played?

What is the significance of new consumption for building a new development pattern?

  Wang Wei (Director of the Institute of Market Economics, Development Research Center of the State Council): Against the backdrop of the repeated impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and the complex and changeable foreign environment, new consumption is an important support for promoting consumption expansion and leading consumption innovation, showing the potential for innovation and upgrading. The strong kinetic energy drives the consumer market to cultivate new opportunities in the process of differentiation and reorganization.

  First, the total scale of online consumption continued to grow rapidly.

In 2021, the national online retail sales will increase by 14.1% over the previous year, of which the online retail sales of physical goods will increase by 12% year-on-year. From January to March this year, the online retail sales of physical goods will increase by 8.8% year-on-year, and the growth rate is significantly higher than offline consumption. .

  Second, the leading role of new domestic products and duty-free retail has become increasingly prominent.

The contribution of new domestic products to the expansion of the consumer market is even more prominent. Taking fast-moving consumer goods as an example, new domestic products contributed 76% of the market growth, 52 percentage points higher than that of international brands; the innovation of domestic duty-free policies has accelerated, and continued to guide and attract consumption back. , During the Spring Festival holiday this year, the total sales of the 10 duty-free shops on the outlying islands in Hainan were 2.131 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 151%.

  Third, digital new consumption channels accelerate the in-depth integration of online and offline consumption.

Facing the repeated impact of the epidemic, traditional contact-type offline consumption channels actively embraced the Internet to further accelerate the pace of digital transformation.

Taking the consumption of fresh and live agricultural products, which has been relatively active in innovation in recent years, as an example, new diversified digital channels such as fresh O2O, smart vegetable farms, and community group purchases have been formed.

For example, Zhejiang Province has nearly 1,100 "assured markets" with basic digital capabilities, with a coverage rate of more than 50%, and 114 "smart vegetable markets" with high digital levels have been built, accounting for 5.3% of the province.

  Fourth, the development momentum of the new consumption growth pole was further enhanced.

The five pilot cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Tianjin, the first batch of international consumption centers, have further played their role in leading consumption upgrades, taking the lead in driving consumption recovery.

Metropolitan circles and urban agglomerations have become new heights of consumption. The Yangtze River Delta region, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle accounted for 24.2% and 10.5% of the country's total retail sales of consumer goods, respectively. , 7.9%, 8.1%, with a total of more than 50%, becoming a new consumption highland and the main battlefield.

It is worth noting that in recent years, county-level consumption with the county as the core has been accelerating, and new features such as new consumer groups, new consumption methods, and new consumption scenarios have emerged, which play an indispensable role in leading the expansion and upgrading of county-level consumption and expanding rural consumption. important role.

  Entering a new stage of development, the internal and external environmental conditions for my country's economic growth have changed, and accelerating the construction of a new development pattern is the strategic layout and first move to grasp the initiative in future development.

Expanding domestic demand is the strategic fulcrum for building a new development pattern. The key is to strengthen the leading role of consumption in domestic demand and the pulling and pulling role of investment. It is necessary to rely on effective investment to meet and create consumer demand, and to achieve a virtuous circle of consumption and investment.

  New consumption will become an important source of consumption growth and a driving force for innovation and development, and digitalization and greening will become the most prominent features of new consumption.

Digital consumption will continue to empower innovation and development of consumption.

The popularization and application of digital technology will further promote consumption innovation, enrich consumption scenarios, optimize consumption experience, and continuously expand new space for consumption growth such as new domestic brands, fresh food e-commerce, smart devices, home living services, and sinking markets.

Green new consumption will continue to promote consumption transformation and sustainable development.

Green consumption will help continue to expand the scale of the consumer market. At the same time, by popularizing the concept of green development, it is conducive to promoting the green transformation of the entire life cycle of consumption and nurturing new consumption growth points.

Launching new consumption scenarios and new experiences in various places

  Moderator: In 2020, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Leading the Development of New Types of Consumption with New Business Formats and New Models". What achievements have been achieved in various regions, and what experiences are worth promoting and learning?

  Guan Lixin (Deputy Director of the Circulation and Consumption Research Institute of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce): In line with the innovation of new business formats and new models and the upgrading of residents' consumption, various localities have actively cultivated new types of consumption and achieved remarkable results.

  Beijing cultivates a new mode of consumption and creates a new smart life.

Cultivate and expand the new mode of "Internet +" consumption.

Through the improvement of online retail, "Internet + circulation", cross-border e-commerce and other policy systems, the city's online retail sales above designated size will increase by 19% year-on-year in 2021, accounting for 36.2% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

Promote the standardization, chaining, facilitation, branding, specialization, and intelligent development of the life service industry. The number of chain convenience stores (community supermarkets) per million people will increase from 282 in 2020 to 310, and promote 130 Convenience stores, bookstores, and pharmacies have entered the subway station.

Open a new digital life, and promote the implementation of digital RMB in 403,000 Winter Olympic scenes.

  Shanghai has strengthened the application of new consumption scenarios, cultivated digital business districts and live broadcast e-commerce bases, supported e-commerce platforms to incubate new online consumer brands, held digital life festivals, dual-product online shopping festivals, and November live broadcasts to enhance the influence of new consumer brands.

In 2021, Shanghai will release nearly 3,000 new products in the global new product launch season, open 1,078 first stores of various brands throughout the year, including 14 first stores in the world and 14 in Asia, and focus on launching 121 leading local brands and more than 140 time-honored brands in Shanghai. Focused on the China Time-honored Digital Museum, 90 new Shanghai online consumer brands were shortlisted for Tmall TOP500 new brands.

  Guangdong promotes the organic integration of online and offline consumption, accelerates the construction of infrastructure and carriers, increases policy support, improves the development environment, and comprehensively cultivates and expands new types of consumption.

Guangdong is steadily advancing the construction of infrastructure such as 5G networks, data centers and industrial Internet, and regards the 5G industry as an important starting point for promoting the development of the digital economy and new consumption.

In 2021, Guangdong Province will build 46,700 new 5G base stations, with a total of 170,000 built, accounting for about one-eighth of the country.

In 2021, the total retail sales of consumer goods in Guangdong Province will be 4.42 trillion yuan, ranking first in the country.

Online retail consumption maintained double-digit growth, and units above designated size achieved a 22.5% increase in retail sales of goods through public networks.

  Relying on the convenient trade resources of Tianjin Port, Tianjin will do a good job in river, sea, port and foreign-style buildings, promote the integration of culture, business and tourism, and form a special theme consumption landmark in Tianjin.

In 2021, Tianjin will hold the Haihe International Consumption Season, highlighting the integration of online and offline, business, tourism and culture, launching a series of “Tour in Tianjin” activities, releasing a batch of new products, opening a batch of first stores, holding a batch of first exhibitions, and optimizing traditional Time-honored brands and featured products are bought and sold all over the country, reflecting "feasts, tours, exhibitions, fun, fun, and materials".

  Chongqing enhances consumers’ shopping experience in all aspects and processes, accelerates the in-depth integration of digital economy and production and life, and shapes consumption scenarios with Bayu cultural characteristics.

Promote the integration of online and offline business development. In 2021, 10 smart business districts and 30 smart vegetable markets will be built on a pilot basis.

Expand the "Internet + social service" consumption format, and develop online shopping malls (shops), online supermarkets, online restaurants, cloud housekeeping, cloud tourism and other formats.

Promote the establishment of a comprehensive demonstration of e-commerce in rural areas, and the city's rural online retail sales will increase by 30.6% in 2021.

  In addition, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan and other places have also launched action plans for cultivating new types of consumption, creating consumption scenarios with local characteristics, promoting the development of new forms of consumption and new models, and stimulating the potential of the consumer market.

  Judging from the measures taken by various places to cultivate new consumption development, there are several experiences that can be used for reference.

  One is innovation-driven and integrated development.

Deeply implement the innovation-driven development strategy, promote various innovations in technology, management, and business models, accelerate the cultivation of new business formats and new models, promote the close integration of the Internet and various consumer formats, accelerate the two-way deep integration of online and offline consumption, and deepen business, travel, The integration of cultural, sports and other industries will promote the vigorous development of new consumption.

The second is to strengthen the construction of new consumption infrastructure and service guarantee capacity.

Strengthen the construction of information network infrastructure, vigorously promote the integrated and innovative application of intelligent technology, improve the infrastructure network of commerce and trade, and improve the modern commerce and trade circulation system in urban and rural areas.

The third is to optimize the development environment for new consumption.

Strengthen the construction of relevant laws and regulations and policy support, deepen inclusive and prudent and coordinated supervision, improve the service standard system, simplify and optimize the processing of licenses, strengthen financial support, optimize financial services, and improve policies such as labor security.

  Vigorously release new consumption potential

  Moderator: In order to accelerate the release of new consumption potential, how should the next step be to break through the blockages restricting consumption and further promote the development of new consumption?

  Yi Shaohua (Director of the Circulation Industry Research Office, Institute of Financial and Economic Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences): Due to the short development time and rapid development speed of new consumption, especially in terms of technology, technology, and business methods, there are many innovations, and it is difficult to avoid the current situation. The management system and legal system are inconsistent, or there are some legal gaps or regulatory vacuums.

In order to further promote the development of new consumption, it is recommended to start from the following four aspects.

  First, increase the reform of the system and mechanism, and innovate the way of government service.

Change the concept from "management (management)" to "service (service)" to improve administrative efficiency.

Fully implement the "Internet + government service" model, realize the standardization of administrative examination and approval, and provide convenient services for enterprises.

Fully implement the market access negative list system, guide the flow of production factors to the development fields of new business formats and new models, promote the transformation of production methods, pay more attention to the improvement of technology, technology and functions, and increase the supply of high-quality products in terms of environmental protection, intelligence, and health.

  Second, deepen the reform of the tax and financial system to reduce the burden on enterprises.

Optimize the structure of the tax system and provide preferential income tax to small and micro enterprises; comprehensively clean up and standardize government charges, appropriately reduce the payment ratio of "five insurances and one housing fund", etc., to further reduce the burden on enterprises by means of "combination punch", improve the business environment of enterprises, and promote new consumption pattern development.

While reducing taxes and fees, we will continue to deepen the reform of the financial system, enable funds to enter emerging fields with development prospects efficiently and spontaneously, enhance financial service capabilities, and improve the financial service system.

  Third, improve the inclusive and prudent regulatory mechanism and expand the space for the development of new types of consumption.

The first is to establish a cross-departmental and cross-regional data sharing platform and collaborative management mechanism through digital and intelligent governance to improve modern governance capabilities.

Second, according to the characteristics of new consumption, the focus of supervision and responsibility should be lowered, and the frequency of random inspections should be increased to ensure product quality.

Strengthen the supervision of service quality, give ratings or rankings through the consumer post-evaluation mechanism, realize the survival of the fittest by market-based means, and improve the self-discipline of new formats.

The third is to strengthen the management of big data customer information and strengthen data security.

Improve relevant laws as soon as possible, and make detailed regulations on consumer information data storage, application process and result presentation, etc., to avoid consumer privacy data leakage and ensure information security.

  Fourth, optimize the business environment and stimulate the development of new consumption.

Most of the new types of consumption come from the innovation of existing business formats, and most of them are in the early stage of development. A fair and just business environment will stimulate enterprises to innovate.

First, it is necessary to reduce market transaction costs, eliminate barriers to entry and exit of the enterprise market, and protect fair trade and fair competition.

Provide good and stable expectations for more new entrants, promote the development of new enterprises, and expand the supply of new consumption.

The second is to strengthen the evaluation of the qualifications of new consumer enterprises. With the help of third-party institutions, provide endorsements or certifications for the qualifications of suppliers to ensure that their qualifications are valid and legal, including professional qualifications, professional standards, and employee levels, etc., and keep pace with the times. Sexual adjustment to adapt to the development of new business formats.

The third is to increase the opening up of the service field to the outside world to provide assistance for the development of new consumption.

Focus on promoting the opening up of service industries such as finance, education, culture, and medical care, accelerate the development of new business formats in the service field through opening up, optimize the supply structure of service products, and better meet the needs of residents' consumption upgrades.

The fourth is to improve intellectual property protection and its supporting systems to release new consumption potential.

The new type of consumption involves cross-border integration of different fields, and is characterized by the integration of different types and forms of intellectual property innovation, which is likely to cause infringement.

The content and scope of intellectual property protection should be updated in a timely manner to cover emerging infringement phenomena and behaviors, increase the illegal cost of infringement, encourage more companies to increase R&D efforts, use innovation results to improve real productivity, and better stimulate new consumption potential.