BEIJING — The scale of operations in the household services sector reached 576.2 billion yuan (about $83.78 billion) in China in 2018, up 27.9 percent from the previous year, an official said at a press conference on July 5.

The number of domestic service workers in China exceeded 30 million, said Lian Weiliang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, noting the development of the industry is significant for stimulating consumer spending, improving people’s wellbeing and expanding employment.

In June, China issued a guideline on developing the country’s domestic service industry, aiming to promote the quality and market capacity of the household services.

Efforts will be made to improve the competence of domestic service workers, and strengthen the protection of the lawful rights and interests of household services buyers and suppliers.

Meanwhile, favorable policies will be rolled out to attract more domestic services workers and encourage social actors to participate in the sector as well, he said.

Campaigns will be launched to cultivate qualified domestic service providers, Lian said, adding that by 2020, 5 million people would have completed training in domestic services and such training is available in all cities with over 1 million permanent residents.