Boosting consumption is of paramount importance in expanding domestic demand and strengthening the domestic circulation.  

Placing the promotion of consumption in a more prominent position and vigorously supporting residents to increase their income

Expected income gives confidence in consumption. Boosting consumption is the top priority of this year's economic work. The first of the nine key tasks determined by the Central Economic Work Conference for 2025 is to vigorously boost consumption, improve investment efficiency, and comprehensively expand domestic demand.

The meeting pointed out that we need to effectively change our mindset and give more prominence to boosting consumption. Strongly support residents to increase their income, promote reasonable growth of wage income, broaden channels for property income, and enhance consumption capacity.

Promote service consumption, improve quality and benefit the people, optimize the supply of "one elderly and one small" services

The meeting proposed to focus on consumption areas with strong impact and large growth potential, and to deeply tap into consumption potential. Promote service consumption to improve quality and benefit the people, optimize the supply of "one elderly, one small" services, support convenience, promote service consumption to improve quality and benefit the people, expand cultural and sports tourism consumption, promote ice and snow consumption, and develop inbound consumption.

Shen Yujing, associate researcher of Chongyang Institute of Finance, Renmin University of China, said that we should further tap the consumption potential of pension, nursery education, entertainment and other aspects, actively expand the service consumption scene, and integrate service consumption into people's daily life. At the same time, relying on platforms such as the National Service Industry Expansion and Opening Comprehensive Demonstration Zone, we will continuously improve the supply level of related services.

In recent years, the role of the service consumption engine has been prominent. In 2024, the proportion of per capita service consumption expenditure of residents in China to per capita consumption expenditure increased by 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous year, and the retail sales of services increased by 6.2%, faster than the growth rate of commodity sales.

Promote the upgrading of bulk consumption and promote healthy consumption

The meeting called for promoting the upgrading of bulk consumption, increasing support for trade in of consumer goods, better meeting housing consumption needs, and extending the automotive consumption chain. Strengthen the leadership of consumer brands, support the accelerated development of new consumption, promote "artificial intelligence+consumption", healthy consumption, etc., and continue to create new consumer products, new scenarios, and new hotspots.

The consumer market in our country has strong resilience, great potential, and sufficient vitality. The basic trend of recovery and improvement has not changed. With the strengthening and expansion of the policy of exchanging old for new consumer goods and the orderly development of various consumption promotion activities, the overall consumer market in the first quarter will continue to show a steady growth trend, "said He Yong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce.

He Yongqian also stated that the Ministry of Commerce will further cultivate and strengthen new types of consumption, develop the ice and snow economy and silver economy, promote digital consumption, green consumption, and healthy consumption, innovate diversified consumption scenarios, and take multiple measures to activate consumption potential.