The Chongqing municipal government recently issued a document outlining the regional consumption sales targets, according to local media reports on May 12.
According to the document, Chongqing's total retail sales of consumer goods are expected to top 1.55 trillion yuan ($232.5 billion) in 2025, with service-related consumption taking up 40 percent of the whole. More than 50 percent of the municipality's economic growth will be contributed by consumption.
Eight specific measures are listed in the document to facilitate consumption, including product quality improvement, digital economy, green and healthy consumption and market divisions.
To raise the quality of products, for instance, Chongqing will collect select market entities and consumer product brands. As for market divisions, the huge consumption market will be further subdivided into parts that deal with customized consumption, public consumption and consumption that occurs during holidays.
An official from the Chongqing Commerce Commission said Chongqing is transforming from commodity-centered consumption to commodity-service-centered consumption, from necessity-based consumption to quality consumption, and from physical-store consumption to integrated consumption that allows products to be promoted and sold both online and offline.
Moving forward, the municipal government will build Chongqing into an international consumption hub that boasts five major categories – shopping, food, exhibitions, travel and culture.
Chongqing's total retail sales of consumer goods in 2020 ranked fourth nationally and reached 1.18 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.3 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was higher than the national level by 5.2 percentage points.
John Edwards, the UK trade commissioner for China, praised Chongqing over its rise as a burgeoning center in intelligent manufacturing.