Fillip to consumption seen spurring retail, services

China's State Council executive meeting announced fresh plans to boost household consumption late on Thursday, and experts said on Friday these moves will further energize the growth of retail sales and services, and thus contribute to the overall consumption recovery this year.

Noting that household consumption involves many areas and has long upstream and downstream chains, the State Council said that targeted policy measures in boosting consumption are conducive to boosting growth in consumer spending and economic recovery.

The State Council further said new policy steps to boost household consumption need to be aligned and coordinated with measures for renovating and sprucing up aging residential communities and old neighborhoods.

New steps should also be coordinated with the renovation of homes that are suitable for the elderly, the building of convenient neighborhoods, and the improvements to be done to waste material recycling networks, a statement released after the meeting stated.

"The idea of household consumption encompasses a wide range of goods and services with long production and industrial chains, and new efforts in this regard will have a significant impact on driving overall consumption and investment," said Zhou Maohua, an analyst with China Everbright Bank.

He stressed that new measures introduced in this regard will shed more light on bringing greater convenience for residents' consumption.

"Relevant businesses should work hard to improve and innovate in supply capacity by products and services that meet market demand, provide good after-sales service, and improve the recycling network for waste products, to see quick deliverables from the new policy efforts," he said.

Agreed Wang Yun, a researcher at the Academy of Macroeconomic Research, which is affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic regulator. Wang stressed that household consumption growth is closely related to people's quality of life.

"With consumption upgrade, one key aspect of household consumption is the upgrade of living facilities and living environment."

Wang suggested improvements should be made to the supply of high-quality home products by establishing and improving relevant quality standards. Efforts should be also made to encourage businesses to enhance their product research and innovation by employing big data and other more precise and targeted measures to meet and create consumer demand and improve the quality of customized services.

Domestic consumer spending, market watchers said, has injected impetus into China's economic recovery over the past few months. In May, retail sales of commodities increased by 10.5 percent year-on-year, while the country's consumer prices reversed a three-month fall to increase by 0.2 percent year-on-year.

zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn