The Ministry of Commerce and 8 other departments: Promote the orderly opening of the internet, culture, and other fields, and expand pilot programs for opening up in telecommunications, healthcare, education, and other areas

On September 16, the Ministry of Commerce and nine other departments released the "Several Policy Measures to Expand Service Consumption," proposing 19 measures in five areas.

The measures include launching a series of promotional activities for "Service Consumption Season," supporting cross-industry cooperation between quality consumption resources and well-known IPs, extending the operating hours of popular cultural and museum venues and scenic spots according to local conditions, optimizing reservation methods, encouraging the implementation of no-reservation policies, optimizing student holiday arrangements, and improving supporting policies.

The Ministry of Commerce stated that service consumption is an important support for improving people's livelihoods and a key direction for the transformation and upgrading of consumption, playing a significant role in promoting high-quality economic development. To implement the decisions and deployments of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, and to boost consumption and expand domestic demand with greater efforts, the following measures have been proposed.

The key points of the summary are as follows:

Promote orderly opening in the fields of the internet, culture, etc., and expand pilot openings in telecommunications, healthcare, and education

The measures propose to expand high-level opening of the service industry. Promote orderly opening in the fields of the internet and culture, and expand pilot openings in telecommunications, healthcare, and education. Accelerate the comprehensive pilot demonstration of expanding the opening of the service industry. Support the inclusion of more service consumption areas in the "Directory of Industries Encouraging Foreign Investment" and provide differentiated service supply.

Gradually expand the scope of unilaterally visa-free countries and optimize regional visa-free entry policies

The measures propose to attract more foreign individuals for consumption. Gradually expand the scope of unilaterally visa-free countries, optimize and improve regional visa-free entry policies, continuously optimize visa policies for foreigners coming to China, and facilitate measures for communication, accommodation, and payment, issuing 5-year multiple-entry visas to more eligible individuals. Strengthen the international promotion of China's cultural and tourism resources, leverage traditional cultural resource advantages such as cuisine, traditional Chinese medicine, and historical relics, and encourage travel agencies and online travel platforms to launch several special travel routes suitable for foreigners. Enhance the "Study in China" brand to attract outstanding foreign students to study in China. Cultivate international markets in healthcare, exhibitions, and more.

Explore setting up spring and autumn breaks for primary and secondary schools, while shortening winter and summer vacation times

The measures propose to optimize student holiday arrangements and improve supporting policies. While keeping the total number of holidays and total teaching hours unchanged, encourage localities with conditions to scientifically adjust the teaching and holiday times of each academic year based on climate conditions, production arrangements, and the implementation of paid leave systems for employees. Explore setting up spring and autumn breaks for primary and secondary schools, while shortening winter and summer vacation times, to increase service consumption time for travel and outings.

Increase support for consumer credit

Increase support for consumer credit. Support localities in sharing consumer credit risks through the establishment of new or inclusion in existing risk compensation special funds, carry out interest subsidies for consumer loans in key areas, guide financial institutions and merchants to cooperate in developing products and services suitable for the characteristics of service consumption, forming a "government subsidy + financial support + merchant discounts" combination.

The full text of the measures is as follows:

1. Cultivate Service Consumption Promotion Platforms

(1) Implement the Service Consumption Quality Improvement and Benefit Action. Issue the "Service Consumption Quality Improvement and Benefit Action Work Plan," proposing work measures from the aspects of strengthening policy support, building platform carriers, expanding opening to the outside world, strengthening standard guidance, and optimizing the consumption environment. Continuously deepen the branding of "Purchasing in China," launch a series of promotional activities for "Service Consumption Season," and carry out service consumption promotion activities in key areas that are close to people's lives, have great demand potential, and strong driving effects, cultivating service consumption brands and creating hotspots for service consumption (Led by the Ministry of Commerce)

(2) Carry out pilot city construction for new consumption formats, models, and scenarios. Actively develop the first-release economy, promote innovation and enrich service consumption scenarios, support cross-industry cooperation between high-quality consumption resources and well-known IPs, create a batch of new consumption scenarios that integrate business, travel, culture, sports, and health, and cultivate a group of leading enterprises in new consumption. (Responsible by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce according to their duties)

II. Enrich High-Quality Service Supply

(3) Expand high-level opening up of the service industry. Promote orderly opening in fields such as the internet and culture, and expand pilot openings in telecommunications, healthcare, and education. Accelerate the advancement of comprehensive pilot demonstrations for expanding the opening of the service industry. Support the inclusion of more service consumption areas in the "Encouragement Directory for Foreign Investment Industries" and provide differentiated service supply. (Responsible by the Central Propaganda Department, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Health Commission according to their duties)

(4) Coordinate the use of existing funding channels to support the launch of a batch of high-quality creations in literature, art, film, animation, etc., fully utilize existing venues, create a batch of theaters, museums, art galleries, and science museums with strong radiation and driving effects, cultivate a batch of mass cultural activities and event brands, and optimize the supply of cultural products and services. Support world cultural heritage, cultural relic venues, intangible cultural heritage institutions, and historical cultural cities to explore the market value of traditional cultural IP and create new service consumption scenarios. Support qualified localities to drive offline scenario innovation through high-quality performances, animations, games, and film works online. (Responsible by the Party Committee Propaganda, Finance, Commerce, Culture and Tourism, Broadcasting, and Cultural Relics Management Departments according to their duties)

(5) Combine actual conditions and adapt to local circumstances to extend the operating hours of popular cultural relic venues and scenic spots, optimize reservation methods, and encourage the implementation of no-reservation policies. Support cultural relic venues to innovate exhibition methods, with revenues used for performance incentives as stipulated, and reasonably determine the total amount of performance wages based on work effectiveness. Encourage cultural relic units to open collection resources and collaborate with social forces to develop cultural and creative, digital products, and promote various cultural exhibitions held in a market-oriented manner to shopping malls, communities, and parks. (Responsible by Finance, Human Resources and Social Security, Commerce, Culture and Tourism, and Cultural Relics Management Departments according to their duties)

(6) Encourage the introduction of excellent foreign sports events and support localities in hosting mass sports events, creating a batch of high-profile boutique events, professional leagues, and sports competition performance brands with independent intellectual property rights. Continuously carry out activities such as "Travel with Events," "Sports Events in Scenic Areas, Streets, and Business Circles," and "Enjoy Exciting Events and Taste Chinese Cuisine," leveraging the driving effect of sports events and related activities. (Responsible by Commerce, Culture and Tourism, and Sports Management Departments according to their duties)

(7) Cultivate a diversified education and training market. Standardize the development of non-disciplinary education and training in cultural arts, technology, and sports, improve licensing conditions, and eligible online and offline non-disciplinary training institutions may apply for administrative licenses in accordance with the law and regulations. Encourage relevant institutions to carry out vocational skills training with a market-oriented approach and improve the training evaluation mechanism. Develop community colleges, citizen night schools, and elderly training in an orderly manner, provide high-quality skills training and cultural arts training, and encourage qualified localities to provide free or low-rent venue facilities (The education, technology, civil affairs, human resources and social security, and sports authorities are responsible according to their duties)

(8) Accelerate the construction of the long-term care insurance system and expand its coverage. Strengthen the training and education of personnel in the fields of elderly care, domestic services, and long-term care, and implement relevant support policies. Carry out special training actions for domestic service vocational skills, improve the vocational evaluation system for domestic services oriented towards professional capabilities, and guide domestic service companies to conduct pre-job training, new apprenticeship training, technician training, etc. (The education, finance, civil affairs, human resources and social security, commerce, and medical insurance authorities, as well as trade unions and women's federations are responsible according to their duties)

(9) Localities with conditions may provide venue support and appropriate operational subsidies to inclusive childcare institutions based on actual circumstances. Support qualified kindergartens to enroll children aged 2-3 years, develop community embedded childcare and family childcare points, and encourage employers to provide childcare services, with policy support provided according to relevant regulations. (The development and reform, education, finance, and health authorities, as well as trade unions are responsible according to their duties)

(10) Relax market access in the fields of mid-to-high-end medical care, leisure, and vacation, reduce restrictive measures, attract more foreign investment and private capital, and increase the supply of quality services. (The Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the National Health Commission are responsible according to their duties)

III. Stimulate New Growth in Service Consumption

(11) Attract more foreign individuals to consume domestically. Gradually expand the scope of countries with unilateral visa exemptions, optimize and improve regional visa exemption policies, continuously optimize visa policies for foreigners coming to China, and facilitate measures for communication, accommodation, and payment, issuing 5-year multiple-entry visas to more eligible individuals. Strengthen the international promotion of China's cultural and tourism resources, leverage traditional cultural resource advantages such as cuisine, traditional Chinese medicine, and historical sites, and encourage travel agencies and online travel platforms to launch several distinctive travel routes suitable for foreigners. Strengthen the branding of "Study in China" to attract outstanding foreign students to study in China. Cultivate international markets in medical care, exhibitions, and more. (The Ministry of Commerce leads, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Health Commission, the People's Bank of China, the National Immigration Administration, the National Cultural Heritage Administration, and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine responsible according to their duties)

(12) Expand digital service consumption, encourage e-commerce platforms to innovate online and offline integrated digital service consumption scenarios, and support the digital transformation and promotion operations of life service enterprises. Carry out recommendations for typical applications of "artificial intelligence + consumption," continuously creating new products, new scenarios, and new hotspots in information consumption. (The commerce, and industry and information technology authorities are responsible according to their duties)

(13) Optimize student holiday arrangements and improve supporting policies. While keeping the total number of holiday days and total teaching time unchanged, encourage localities with conditions to scientifically adjust the teaching and holiday times of each school year based on factors such as climate conditions, production arrangements, and the implementation of paid leave systems for employees, exploring the establishment of spring and autumn breaks for primary and secondary schools, correspondingly shortening winter and summer vacation times, and increasing time for travel and other service consumption. (The education and human resources and social security authorities are responsible according to their duties)

IV. Strengthening Financial Support

(14) Coordinate the use of various funding channels such as central budget investment and local government special bonds to support the construction of cultural, tourism, elderly care, childcare, sports, and other service facilities that meet the criteria. (National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance responsible according to their duties)

(15) Support the Service Trade Innovation Development Guidance Fund to invest in eligible service consumption enterprises based on market principles, guiding social capital to increase investment in service consumption-related fields. (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce responsible according to their duties)

(16) Use monetary credit and other policy tools comprehensively to support financial institutions in expanding credit issuance in the service consumption sector, increasing credit issuance to business entities in the service consumption field, reasonably determining loan interest rates, and sustainably supporting service consumption. Support financial institutions in innovating and developing specialized financial products and services tailored to the characteristics and financing needs of service consumption business entities. Encourage financial institutions to strengthen support for diversified service consumption scenarios, clusters, and related key project construction. (People's Bank of China, Financial Regulatory Administration responsible according to their duties)

(17) Increase support for consumer credit. Support local governments in sharing consumer credit risks through the establishment of new or inclusion of existing risk compensation special funds, carry out interest subsidies for consumer loans in key areas, and guide financial institutions and merchants to collaborate in developing products and services suitable for service consumption characteristics, forming a combination of "government subsidies + financial support + merchant discounts." (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, People's Bank of China, Financial Regulatory Administration responsible according to their duties)

(18) Focus on service consumption areas closely related to residents' daily lives, providing financial interest subsidies to service industry business entities, promoting the reduction of financing costs for business entities, and stimulating the vitality of the service consumption market. (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, People's Bank of China and other departments responsible according to their duties)

V. Improving Statistical Monitoring System

(19) Optimize service consumption statistical methods. Accelerate the calculation of service retail sales by region to objectively reflect the development of service consumption in different regions. Innovate statistical monitoring methods and encourage qualified localities to use big data and other information technology means to conduct service consumption monitoring and analysis. (National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Commerce responsible according to their duties)

Relevant departments and units must resolutely implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, promoting the implementation of various policy measures in detail. The Ministry of Commerce should play a coordinating role in promoting the development of service consumption, leading the improvement of support policies, increasing the supply of quality services, and better meeting the diverse service consumption needs of the people.

Source: Ministry of Commerce