China will speed up new types of consumption with better support in infrastructure, services and regulation, and shore up new business patterns under regular epidemic control, according to a circular issued by the State Council on Sept 21.

As required in the circular, the nation should see an improved policy system in promoting new types of consumption in three to five years, with an optimized environment for new business patterns and better quality in new product supply.

By 2025, a group of demonstration cities and leading enterprises in new types of consumption should be formed with online retail sales accounting for a significant share of total retail sales.

Internet Plus services and public service platforms for e-commerce should be established and improved, and digital education resources should be jointly built and shared for large-scale online open courses.

Internet medical care, online entertainment, and smart tourism and sports should be encouraged with faster application of high-end technology for better video and audio experiences.

According to the circular, both online and offline consumption will be promoted, and brick-and-mortar enterprises will be guided to develop more digitized products and services.

Enterprises in e-commerce and digital services should be supported to go overseas and an international logistics system should be built at a faster pace.

To speed up infrastructure for new types of consumption and ensure service ability, the nation should strengthen construction on information networks with focus on 5G networks, data centers, industrial internet, and internet of things, and core business districts, key industrial parks, important transportation hubs, and main application scenarios should be covered first.

The digital commodity circulation system should be established and improved. In emerging cities, key townships and counties and Central and West China, the deployment of digital consumer networks should be accelerated to reduce the overall logistics cost.

With effective risk prevention and control, the development and integration of technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and blockchain should be promoted. The application of blockchain in digital scenarios, such as commodity traceability, cross-border remittance, supply chain finance, and electronic bills should be speeded up.

As required in the circular, the commercial use of data should be done in a safe and orderly manner and information and data resource services and supervision should be strengthened in accordance with the law to better provide enterprises with computing resource support and preferential services. New methods to develop consumer big data services should be explored.

In line with the country's major regional development strategies, China will cultivate and boost international consumption centers, make plans to build urban-rural integration network nodes on new consumption, and actively develop smart communities and business areas.

To create a better environment for new types of consumption, relevant laws and regulations should catch up, including those in the areas of e-commerce and sharing economy.

Such laws and regulations should suit the development of new consumption, and those that do not should be adjusted in a timely manner.

Proper regulation is necessary in that environment, in accordance with the principles of inclusiveness, prudence and coordination.

Behaviors, such as selling fake and forged commodities, infringing on intellectual property rights, giving misleading propaganda, engaging in pricing frauds, and leaking private information, should be subject to more stringent crackdowns.

The business climate for new retail forms and models also should be improved through simplified permit handling.

As part of fiscal support, tax collection and management policies designed for boosting new consumption should be further explored, to enable tax and fee cuts to deliver greater benefits.

Financial institutions should be encouraged to develop products and services suited to the characteristics of enterprises engaged in new consumption in a market-oriented way, on the premise of controllable risks.

Meanwhile, banks and other payment and settlement service providers should be steered toward reducing commission charges to lower the payment costs of merchants and consumers.

Employment policies should bolster new job patterns and flexible occupations, with improvements in labor security systems, the circular stressed.