Sustained drive set to boost spending

A shopper buys groceries at a supermarket in Qingzhou, Shandong province. (WANG JILIN/FOR CHINA DAILY)

China will ramp up efforts to reinvigorate consumer spending and drive domestic demand across various sectors, to give a much-needed fillip to the country's economic growth momentum in the final stretch of the year, officials and analysts said.

Consumption vouchers in the service sector and new incentives for businesses, among others, will be rolled out to facilitate the transition of the world's second-largest economy toward a more consumption-led model, they added.

China's retail sales growth accelerated by 1.1 percentage points in September compared to the previous month, indicating a positive shift in the country's consumer market. The country will better harness the power of consumption to propel its development, Vice-Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping said on Friday.

By launching the consumption promotion campaign in November, the country will further unleash the potential of consumption and strongly underpin the year-end economic performance, Sheng said at a news conference.

The initiative will guide offline businesses to actively engage in promotional activities, while fostering synergies with the ongoing Double Eleven shopping festival, Sheng added. Double Eleven is an e-commerce shopping fiesta that culminates on Nov 11 each year.

In the month ahead, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing will distribute consumption vouchers specifically for catering, cultural tourism, and sports services, according to Sheng.

China's service consumption demand has remained robust, with the retail sales of services growing 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year, outpacing the growth in goods retail by 3.7 percentage points, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

By encouraging consumption in the service industries, China can better capitalize on the growing middle-income group and their increasing preference for experiential and lifestyle-oriented spending, said Chen Lifen, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Meanwhile, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, will offer support and incentives to businesses that introduce new offerings, such as launching first stores, products or exhibitions.

That is the debut economy in action. It covers everything from the unveiling of a product for the first time, the opening of flagship stores, and the launch of new services, to the creation of new business models and technologies, said Chen Wenling, chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

These activities are often characterized by their trendiness, cutting-edge features, and high-quality attributes, effectively aligning with consumers' growing demand for diverse and premium experiences, Chen added.