Boosting consumer confidence, new business models intensify efforts
The COVID-19 has a great impact on China's consumption in the short term. Promoting consumption replenishment and potential release is a key measure to effectively hedge against the impact of the epidemic and boost the economy. During the epidemic, new forms of consumption represented by online shopping and services have shown strong vitality and become a new driving force for China's economic development. At the same time, the cultural and tourism industry with digital content as its core is developing rapidly, and new forms of users such as cloud entertainment, cloud live streaming, and cloud exhibition viewing are on the rise.
The COVID-19 has had a great impact on consumption. The latest data shows that the total retail sales of consumer goods in China decreased by 20.5% year-on-year from January to February, with a growth rate 28.7 percentage points lower than the same period last year. How to boost consumption, promote consumption replenishment and potential release? On March 18th, the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism held a press conference to introduce the relevant situation.
The long-term stable trend of consumption in our country remains unchanged
From January to February, China's automobile sales decreased by 37% year-on-year, furniture decreased by 33.5%, building materials decreased by 30.5%, household appliances decreased by 30%, and industries and formats such as accommodation, catering, beauty and hairdressing, large department stores, shopping centers, etc. saw a significant decline in customer flow, posing great difficulties for enterprises.
Overall, the epidemic has had a significant short-term impact on consumption and is expected to gradually stabilize in the medium term, "said Wang Bin, the head of the Consumer Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce. With a series of effective policies to promote consumption, it is expected that consumption will gradually recover. The epidemic will not change the development trend of long-term stability and continuous upgrading of consumption in China.
Last year, consumption contributed 57.8% to the growth of the national economy, and has been the first engine driving China's economic growth for six consecutive years. "In the view of Ha Zengyou, Director of the Employment Income Distribution and Consumption Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, promoting consumption replenishment and potential release is a key measure to effectively hedge the impact of the epidemic and boost the economy. Especially in the current situation of accelerated spread of the epidemic abroad, it is timely to focus on expanding domestic consumption and cultivating a strong domestic market. To this end, we need to focus on two things: first, guiding local governments to implement established measures to expand consumption; The second is to support local governments to introduce a number of practical and effective measures based on their own realities.
Wang Bin said that in the current and future period, the focus will be on promoting the resumption of business operations by enterprises, guiding and urging areas with low epidemic risks and slow resumption of work to organize commercial and trade circulation enterprises to open for business as soon as possible, and to restore normal market operation levels. Further research and propose policy measures to promote the consumption of key commodities such as automobiles, furniture, and home appliances, promote the transformation of automobile purchase restrictions to guided use policies, support and guide local governments to formulate incentive policies, and encourage enterprises to carry out electronic product trade in. Improve the convenient consumption network, optimize the layout of convenience stores and vegetable markets, and create community convenient business districts.
New consumption demonstrates strong vitality
"China's consumption shows strong resilience and vitality. New types of consumption and upgraded consumption continue to expand, and new consumption modes such as contactless distribution, unattended retail and live retail are developing rapidly; artificial intelligence, telecommuting, 'Internet+medical+pharmacy' and other counter trends are developing," said Wang Bin.
During the epidemic, new forms of consumption represented by online shopping and services have shown strong vitality. In order to cope with the impact of the epidemic, retail and catering enterprises actively expand online business, accelerate the development of contactless services such as Internet sales, takeaway delivery, and a large number of innovative models to promote community consumption, such as Hema Fresh Food, Dingdong Shopping, Meituan "Anxin Restaurant", and Jingdong Home.
Statistics show that from January to February, the online retail sales of physical goods in China increased by 3% year-on-year, accounting for 21.5% of the total retail sales of consumer goods, an increase of 5 percentage points year-on-year. New consumption will become a new driving force for China's economic development.
How to cultivate and develop new consumption? Ha Zengyou stated that in the next step, the National Development and Reform Commission will accelerate the construction of a new generation of information infrastructure with a focus on 5G networks and data centers, and strive to promote full coverage of information services; Encourage the development of new models of integrated online and offline consumption, and promote the upgrading of traditional sales and services online; Encourage the use of green and intelligent products to promote the development of healthy lifestyle habits; Adhere to inclusive and prudent supervision, and promote the healthy development of new consumption.
The number of users in the digital cultural and tourism industry is on the rise
With the continuous improvement of the epidemic situation, how to meet the cultural and tourism consumption needs of the general public? Gao Zheng, Director of the Industry Development Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, introduced that during the epidemic, many offline cultural and entertainment activities have been affected, but the cultural and tourism industry centered on digital content has developed rapidly. New formats such as cloud entertainment, cloud live streaming, and cloud exhibition viewing have seen a surge in user numbers. Major online travel platforms have launched cloud tourism projects, and museums across the country have launched over 2000 online exhibitions. During the Spring Festival, the total number of views exceeded 5 billion, and many 5A level scenic spots have opened up online travel functions. A number of VR (virtual reality technology) cultural tourism products have been disseminated online, allowing people to experience the beautiful rivers, mountains, and rich and colorful culture of our country without leaving their homes.
Gao Zheng stated that the next step will be to further promote the development of the digital cultural and tourism industry in four aspects. One is to implement fiscal, tax, and financial policies to assist enterprises in reducing the impact of the epidemic and enhancing the confidence and momentum of digital cultural and tourism enterprises. The second is to grasp the new trends and demands of industrial development, seize the development opportunities of new technologies such as 5G and ultra high definition, and vigorously cultivate new business models. The third is to expand the supply of high-quality digital cultural and tourism products, accelerate the release of emerging consumption potential, develop immersive experiential cultural and tourism consumption, guide and cultivate new consumption hotspots and models such as online consumption, experiential consumption, and intelligent consumption. The fourth is to seize the opportunities of digital economy development, strengthen the construction of new infrastructure, promote the deep integration of cultural tourism and digital economy, promote the digital, networked, and intelligent development of the cultural tourism industry, and continuously integrate into the overall pattern of digital economy development.
According to Gao Zheng, as of March 16th, 3714 A-level tourist attractions in 28 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) across the country have resumed operations, with a resumption rate of over 30%. The main tourist attractions that have resumed operations are mountainous scenic spots, open scenic spots, and public parks, which are outdoor tourist destinations. Overall, they are running smoothly without any abnormal situations. As of March 15th, more than 180 museums in Shaanxi, Shanghai, Sichuan and other places have resumed opening, including 19 first level museums. Various regions have adopted measures such as online real name reservation, total quantity control, time-sharing diversion, regional opening, voice explanation, digital guidance, etc. to reduce personnel gatherings in accordance with requirements.
Information source: China Government website
Editor He Yang of this website/Organizing
