China issues plan to encourage new types of consumption

China issued a plan Thursday to encourage new types of consumption and protect the rights and interests of those employed by new business models.

The plan, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and 27 other government departments, demands new policies to secure the basic level of employee rights and benefits in areas such as wages, working hours, workplace safety and social insurance.

Employment and social-insurance services should be provided online for employees in flexible jobs, according to the plan.

Efforts will be made to encourage new business patterns in retail sales, it says, calling for the development of contactless shopping, digitalized convenience-store chains and the live-streaming economy.

The plan urges the development of the "Internet plus medical health" sector. Rules will be established to regulate online health services and online hospitals, it says.

Digital cultural industries and tourism shall be further promoted, while online education shall be developed in an orderly manner, according to the plan.

The plan also calls for improving the circulation of agricultural products, enhancing the construction of new-generation information infrastructure, accelerating the application of new equipment with new technologies, improving the development and training of new occupations, and strengthening fiscal support to new types of consumption.