Ministry of Commerce: Introduce 18 measures to further stimulate the vitality of the sinking market

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on August 18, the State Information Office held a press conference on the situation to stimulate the vitality of the sinking market and active consumption in counties. Assistant Minister of Commerce Yuan Xiaoming said that the “Opinion” focuses on counties and regions, focuses on offline consumption, and proposes 18 specific measures. In summary, it mainly includes four aspects. The first is to optimize the county's business environment. Accelerate the renewal of existing commercial facilities, optimize the layout of commercial outlets, improve commercial service packages, and revitalize idle resource assets. Improve the efficiency of urban and rural distribution networks, clear two-way circulation channels between urban and rural areas, and guide online and offline collaborative development. The second is to enrich consumption and supply in the county area. Guide chain enterprises to accelerate their decline, promote integrity and innovation of local brands, and develop new business formats according to local conditions. Expand the supply of high-quality and affordable products, accelerate the improvement of service formats such as “one old, one small”, and promote the integrated development of commerce, agriculture, culture, tourism, and sports. The third is to enhance the ability to guarantee consumption. Fourth, strengthen the integration of elements.

Li Jialu, director of the Department of Distribution and Development of the Ministry of Commerce, said that there are 1,869 county-level administrative districts outside of municipal districts in China, and the situation is very different. The core of our publication of this document is to give full play to the guiding and leading role of policy, delineate the main lines of work, clarify support measures, and leave sufficient room for local exploration. In advancing our work, we will firmly establish and implement a correct view of political performance, adhere to adapting to local conditions, classification policies, and seek facts to fully consider actual situations such as population distribution and market demand, develop unique county businesses, and resolutely avoid “one-size-fits-all”; adapt to changing trends in population movements in counties, strengthen analysis and judgment, and resolutely prevent blind construction and waste of resources; make full use of the existing commercial infrastructure foundation, focusing on transformation and upgrading, and resolutely avoiding large-scale demolition and construction, and low-level homogenous competition.

The transcript is as follows:

Jia Huili, Deputy Director of the Information Bureau of the Information Office of the State Council and press spokesman:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the press conference of the Information Office of the State Council. “Opinions on Further Stimulating the Sinking Market Vitality and Active Consumption in Counties” has been publicly released. Today, we invited Mr. Yuan Xiaoming, Assistant Minister of Commerce, to brief everyone on the relevant situation and answer everyone's concerns. Also attending today's press conference were Mr. Song Danyang, Head of the Marketing and Information Technology Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs; Mr. Li Jialu, Director of the Circulation Development Department of the Ministry of Commerce; Mr. Gu Kewei, Head of the Industrial Development Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; and Ms. Du Linya, Head of the Registration Bureau of the General Administration of Market Regulation.

Next, let's first ask Mr. Yuan Xiaoming to give an introduction.

Assistant Minister of Commerce Yuan Xiaoming:

Good afternoon to all our fellow journalists! First of all, thank you very much for your continued interest and support in business work. Recently, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, issued “Opinions on Further Stimulating Sinking Market Vitality and Active Consumption in Counties”. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the relevant situation.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that it is necessary to enhance consumption capacity, improve consumption conditions, innovate consumption scenarios, and fully unleash consumption potential. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed vigorously boosting consumption. This year's “Report on the Work of the Government” clearly proposes to boost offline consumption and stimulate consumption vitality in the sinking market.

The sinking market covers urban and rural areas, connects production and marketing, and serves people's livelihood. It carries the widest range of consumer groups in the country, and also contains the most potential consumer demand. Counties are an important part of it. China's counties account for about 90% of the country's land area, 50% of the resident population, and 40% of the total economy. The share of county and rural consumption in retail sales of social consumer goods has steadily increased, and has become the most important source of potential for expanding consumption.

In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, recently, we will jointly issue “Opinions” with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Administration of Market Supervision and other departments on the basis of in-depth research, adhere to local conditions and classification policies, promote close integration between promoting consumption and benefiting people's livelihood, strengthen the integration of new supply and demand, cultivate demand through new urbanization construction, enrich supply with high-quality facilities and products and services, improve efficiency through modern circulation methods such as chain management, and strengthen guarantees to better meet the quality and diversification of residents' consumption demand, Effectively stimulate consumption vitality in a declining market.

Yuan Xiaoming:

The “Opinion” focuses on counties and regions, focuses on offline consumption, and proposes 18 specific measures. In summary, it mainly includes four aspects. The first is to optimize the county's business environment. Accelerate the renewal of existing commercial facilities, optimize the layout of commercial outlets, improve commercial service packages, and revitalize idle resource assets. Improve the efficiency of urban and rural distribution networks, clear two-way circulation channels between urban and rural areas, and guide online and offline collaborative development. The second is to enrich consumption and supply in the county area. Guide chain enterprises to accelerate their decline, promote integrity and innovation of local brands, and develop new business formats according to local conditions. Expand the supply of high-quality and affordable products, accelerate the improvement of service formats such as “one old, one small”, and promote the integrated development of commerce, agriculture, culture, tourism, and sports. The third is to enhance the ability to guarantee consumption. Promote stable employment and expand ways to increase income, strengthen entrepreneurship and secure housing, and unleash consumption potential. Support the layout of a number of enterprise headquarters and platform enterprises in the county area, provide more jobs, and cultivate new forms of employment groups rooted in the county area. Fourth, strengthen the integration of elements. A number of hard tricks have been introduced in finance, finance, land, business environment, etc., to drive the concentration of various resource elements in the county area.

In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to earnestly implement the “Opinions”, continue to improve the policy system during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, guide all regions to explore county consumption development models that meet local characteristics, effectively stimulate the strong vitality of the sinking market, and unleash the huge potential of county consumption.

I'll introduce these first. Next, my colleagues from the relevant departments and I would be happy to further communicate with media friends about the content of the “Opinion.” Thanks!

Jia Huili:

Thanks for the introduction. Please ask your questions now. Please inform your news agency before asking questions.

CCTV reporter at the general station:

In recent years, we have seen the emergence of commercial complex brand stores in more and more counties. Many township commercial centers are brighter and have richer products. These changes reflect that commercial construction in the county area is speeding up. Excuse me, what are the main tasks carried out by the commercial department in the county area? What progress has been made? How can the construction of the county commercial system be further deepened during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period to stimulate the vitality of the sinking market? Thank you.

Yuan Xiaoming:

Thank you for your question, I'll answer that question. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the construction of rural circulation systems. The Ministry of Commerce, together with the Ministry of Finance and other departments, resolutely implemented the comprehensive demonstration of e-commerce into rural areas and commercial construction actions in the county area. The geographical scope continued to expand from towns and villages to counties, the support content was continuously enriched from products to services, and channel construction continued to expand from offline to online and offline integration development, and gradually built a commercial network covering urban and rural areas, effectively helping the integrated development of urban and rural areas and comprehensive rural revitalization.

Since 2021, we have further promoted the construction of a commercial system in the county area, which has strongly driven both farmers' income and rural consumption to increase. First, distribution facilities continue to be upgraded. 3,159 comprehensive commercial and trade service centers in counties and towns, 15,000 township commercial centers, and 168,000 village-level convenience stores have been built and renovated. The whole country has basically achieved full coverage of three-level commercial outlets in counties and villages. Second, the logistics distribution system is becoming more and more perfect. It has supported the upgrading of more than 3,600 logistics distribution outlets in counties and villages. Every day, more than 100 million parcels enter and leave the countryside, and more and more residents enjoy “convenience at their doorstep”. The third is the transformation and upgrading of the agricultural product supply chain. It supports the construction of nearly 4,000 facilities for sorting, pre-cooling, and initial processing of agricultural products. The ability to commercialize agricultural products and erroneous peak sales has been significantly enhanced, helping to sell more good products at good prices. Fourth, the distribution business format and method accelerate innovation. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, rural online retail sales exceeded 3 trillion yuan, with a cumulative increase of 1 trillion yuan. The number of rural online merchants has exceeded 20 million, and diverse e-commerce players, such as young people returning to their hometowns and talented rural people, continue to emerge. It can be said that early work has achieved positive results, laying a good foundation for the continued prosperity of the county consumer market.

Based on the new stage of development, we will continue to promote the construction of a modern circulation system in rural areas. In summary, it is to conform to the four trends and promote the four upgrades:

First, conform to the development trend of rural-urban integration and promote the upgrading of commercial networks. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, as urbanization construction using counties and towns as important carriers progressed in depth, the spatial distribution and movement pattern of the population would also show new characteristics. We will optimize the layout of the county's commercial network in an integrated manner, further strengthen the radiation-driving role of the county as a distribution and consumption hub within the county area, give full play to the agglomeration service function of central townships as regional nodes, and explore implementation paths for diverse products and services to enter the village. Promote integrated operation and efficient connectivity between urban and rural areas, upstream and downstream and across regions. Gradually promote simultaneous matching of county commercial networks with population movements and simultaneous development with technological iteration, and upgrade from full coverage to “integration and high efficiency”.

Second, follow the trend of deep industrial integration and promote the upgrading of distribution methods. Industrial integration in counties is the general trend. Taking good care of circulation, a key link between production and consumption, is an inevitable requirement for promoting industrial integration and boosting the county economy. We will further develop the fundamental and leading role of circulation, take good care of key points such as commodity trading markets, broaden application scenarios such as e-commerce in rural areas, improve supply chain collaboration efficiency, extend the industrial chain, enhance the value chain, promote healthy mutual promotion of industrial prosperity, employment income growth, and consumption upgrading, and further promote the integrated development of the people in strong industrial counties.

Third, adapt to the trend of declining brand chains and promote the upgrading of service formats. The county market is vibrant and has sufficient potential, and is a “blue ocean” for all types of business entities to accelerate their layout. The key to strengthening the adaptation of supply and demand is to push the brand to “stick down” and make adaptive adjustments in product selection, pricing, and service according to the county's consumption logic. We will support chain brands to innovate business models according to local conditions, encourage healthy competition between local brands and foreign brands, and promote more diversification of service formats. At the same time, the business environment has been further optimized so that brands can not only “settle down” in the county, but also “stay”.

Fourth, adapt to changing trends in consumer demand and promote the upgrading of the market environment. The consumer demand of residents in the county is undergoing an accelerated transformation towards quality and diversification. However, at present, there are still shortcomings in the high-quality supply of goods and services in the county. “persistent problems” in rural markets such as counterfeiting and shoddy goods still exist, and consumer rights protection channels are not smooth enough. We will do whatever the masses want. Together with relevant departments, we will continue to optimize the diverse supply of products and services according to the consumer characteristics of different groups, further standardize the market order, clear channels for rights protection, and make products of higher quality, more accessible, and more practical to consume.

Thanks!

Taiga Finance Cube Reporter:

We have noticed that in recent years, the overall consumption growth rate in rural areas is faster than in urban areas, and the share of consumption in counties has continued to rise, showing huge potential for growth. What is the main reason? What are the next steps to continue to promote the development of the consumer market in the county area? Thank you.

Yuan Xiaoming:

Thank you for your question. I asked my colleague, Director Li Jialu, to answer this question.

Li Jialu, Director of the Distribution Development Department of the Ministry of Commerce:

Thank you for your question. As Assistant Yuan just explained, county consumption is an important component of total consumption and an important source of increase in consumption. From January to July of this year, retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas increased by 2.4% year on year, 1.3 percentage points higher than in urban areas. It has been 55 consecutive months higher than in urban areas or has remained flat. Retail sales of consumer goods in counties and villages have reached 39.1% of total social zero, an increase of 0.3 percentage points over the same period last year. It is no accident that consumption in the prefecture is “accelerating.”

First, new forms of urbanization have brought about huge increases. The population of the county area is gradually concentrated from the countryside to the county town. According to data from the 7th Census, the number of residents in counties and county-level cities increased by more than 30%. A large number of people transferred from agriculture have settled down in the county, leading to an increase in systematic consumption at multiple levels, such as housing purchases, decoration, education, and medical care. More than 15 million entrepreneurs returning to their hometowns have returned, bringing about changes in consumption methods and quality of consumption. Second, revenue growth provided a strong impetus. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the per capita disposable income of rural residents increased by more than 42.8%, which is 13.9 percentage points higher than that of urban residents. In 2025, the marginal consumption propensity of rural residents was 11.5 percentage points higher than that of urban residents. Continued income growth combined with high marginal consumption tendencies has formed a multiplier effect of rural consumption growth. Third, environmental optimization has released consumer demand. Commercial outlets in counties and villages have continued to improve, logistics distribution networks have been continuously improved, and chain brands have accelerated their layout, further enriching consumer choices. Previously, potential demand due to geospatial limitations continued to translate into actual consumption. In the next step, we will adapt to changes in consumer demand in the county and take more measures to boost the consumer market.

First, both sales and production sides work hard to enrich the supply of high-quality products. According to our recent questionnaire survey, 49.4% of rural residents believe that the small variety of products is the most important core pain point of offline consumption. Together with relevant departments, we will vigorously promote new energy vehicles, green smart products, etc. to the countryside, expand the coverage of rural charging facilities, and optimize the purchasing and use environment. At the same time, enterprises will be encouraged to develop high-quality products that meet the consumer characteristics of the county, support commercial distribution enterprises to build more own brands, and build a flexible supply chain “according to demand”.

Second, focus on key points and make up for shortcomings to improve the energy level of service consumption. The shortcomings of service consumption in counties are more prominent than commodity consumption. We will use the city's one-quarter hour convenience life circle as a reference, build a convenient living circle according to local conditions, insist on “what is lacking and what to make up for”, expand high-quality supply in the fields of catering, lodging, leisure and entertainment, cultural tourism, etc., and cultivate diverse and integrated consumption scenarios. In particular, we will focus on the needs of “one old, one young” groups, and increase age-appropriate and suitable service facilities and projects, so that county residents can enjoy convenient and reliable service experiences nearby at their doorstep.

Third, bring in and nurture local collaborations to expand high-quality commercial entities. Bringing it in is to guide more brand chains to sink into the county area. What needs to be emphasized in particular is that the downturn cannot simply imitate the model of copying the city; it must be more adapted to the consumer needs of the county area and truly integrated into the county's commercial ecosystem. Nurturing the mainland means supporting the development of small stores, time-honored brands, and workshop-style brands that carry local culture, helping them improve their brand building and sustainable management capabilities, and cultivate a number of business entities in fields such as cultural and creative handicrafts, home life, food and tea.

Fourth, promote innovation with equal emphasis on standardization, and promote innovation in business formats and models. We will closely follow the emergence and growth of emerging consumption such as camping and health in the county, promptly guide supply-side follow-up and adaptation, guide leading enterprises and platform enterprises to empower small and medium-sized enterprises in the county with technology, and encourage places in a position to do so to develop virtual reality, immersive experiences, “artificial intelligence+consumption”, etc. At the same time, we are working with relevant departments to promote the “same quality sharing” of the same products and products in urban and rural areas, resolutely crack down on counterfeit and shoddy goods and services, and effectively protect consumers' rights and interests. Guide platform companies to consciously regulate prices and subsidy behavior, and promote fair competition online and offline. Thank you.

China Rural Magazine All Media Reporter:

We have noticed that the document specifically proposes to expand the supply of high-quality and high-priced products. What specific measures will be taken to further unleash the consumption potential of agricultural products, so that high-quality agricultural products can not only be “produced” but also “sold well”?

Song Danyang, Head of the Marketing and Information Technology Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:

Thank you for your attention to this issue. Consumption of agricultural products is linked to people's dinner tables on the one hand, and agricultural production on the other, and plays an important role in active consumption in counties. In recent years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, worked with relevant departments to strengthen policy creation, strengthen work guidance, optimize the supply side, innovate the circulation side, and activate the market side, and strongly and effectively promote the consumption of agricultural products.

In terms of how to sell agricultural products at a good price, the focus is on cultivating brands. Deeply implement agricultural brand quality cultivation plans, guide all regions to establish agricultural brand catalogues, create a number of influential and motivating regional public brands, and drive the collaborative development of corporate brands and product brands. Use platform carriers such as the China International Agricultural Products Fair and the Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival Golden Autumn Consumption Season to carry out public welfare brand promotion activities, tell good brand stories, and promote the achievement of high quality and high prices.

In terms of how to make agricultural products find good sales channels, the focus is on connecting production and marketing. Continue to carry out the “Internet +” agricultural products leaving the village and entering the city to promote stable connections between large-scale e-commerce platforms, wholesale markets, and supermarket chains and major production areas. Guide e-commerce platforms to cultivate local farmers' broadcasts, and carry out live streaming activities on themes such as rural flavor, so that traffic can be converted into sales and orders can enter the fields. Organize promotion activities for “souvenirs” into major marketing areas such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Greater Bay Area, so that more high-quality agricultural products can enter the broad consumer market.

In terms of how to integrate agricultural products into new business formats, the focus is on creating consumption scenarios. Combining new business formats such as leisure agriculture and farming experiences, we will create new agricultural product consumption scenarios such as harvest markets and intangible heritage workshops, and encourage all regions to organize various agricultural product consumption promotion activities to guide urban and rural residents to consume nearby and integrate consumption, so that county consumption not only has “fireworks”, but also “new vitality.”

In the next step, in accordance with the “15th Five-Year Plan” to expand consumption and further stimulate the vitality of the sinking market and active consumption in counties, our department will accelerate the construction of an agricultural product marketing service system, implement agricultural brand promotion actions, and normalize consumption promotion activities to unleash the potential for diversified, high-quality, and differentiated consumption. Thank you.

China News Agency Reporter:

We have noticed that the document mentions a number of institutional initiatives involving the registration management of individual businesses, such as the “individual to enterprise” license co-operation and “one license and multiple locations” for individual businesses. What are the details, and what benefits and convenience does it bring to individual businesses? Thank you.

Dulinya, head of the General Administration for Market Regulation and Registration:

Thank you for your questions, and we also sincerely thank our media friends and all sectors of society for their long-term concern and attention to the development of individual businesses. Individual businesses are the largest number of operators in the sinking market. According to statistics, as of the end of July 2026, the number of registered individual businesses in the sinking market compared to the number of enterprises was 209:100, significantly higher than 85:100 in Tier 1 and 2 cities, and the number exceeded 78 million. Of these, 86% were engaged in service-related industries. Some of them are stalls in farmers' markets; some are snack bars, milk tea shops, barber shops, and of course homestays, family farms, etc. all over the world. The vast majority of individual businesses have made important contributions to boosting the county economy, meeting the consumption needs of urban and rural areas, and stabilizing the income growth of employed residents. They have played a very important role in expanding domestic demand, benefiting people's livelihood, and promoting development.

The joint licensing of “one license, multiple addresses” and “individual to enterprise” licenses for individual businesses mentioned are two system innovations introduced by market supervisory authorities. The so-called “one license and multiple addresses” means that individual businesses can apply for registration of multiple physical business establishments within the jurisdiction of their registration authority, and all physical places of business are recorded on the business license. In the past, if individual businesses wanted to set up branches in the county where they were located, they had to have “one address, one license”, that is, each branch had to apply for a separate business license. The “Regulations on the Administration of Individual Business Registration”, which came into effect on July 15, 2025, clearly state that individual operators can “operate with one license and multiple locations” to accumulate goodwill and expand operations through “one license and multiple locations”. The “Regulations” also allow provincial people's governments to explore an “upgraded version” of “one license, multiple locations” within the province based on actual conditions, to facilitate individual businesses to operate across cities and make their business bigger and farther.

“Individual enterprise transformation” means that individual businesses choose to transform into enterprises in order to expand the scale of production and operation, enhance their competitive advantage in the market, and standardize their own management level. The “individual to enterprise” license joint application means that an individual business can directly transform into an enterprise by changing registration methods, retaining business elements such as name, time of establishment, and unifying social credit codes in accordance with the law, and can simultaneously handle matters such as taxation, official seal engraving, social security registration, and housing provident fund deposit registration. At the same time, eligible administrative licensing matters such as production of industrial products, food production and operation, tobacco monopoly, and road transportation of ordinary goods will continue in accordance with the law to help operators achieve business continuity to the greatest extent possible.

Since the General Administration of Market Regulation and 9 other departments jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Efficient Transformation of Individual Businesses into Enterprises “One Thing” in July of last year, a total of 380,000 individual businesses have enjoyed policy dividends, directly transformed into enterprises, and ushered in more room for development. In addition to this, the “Regulations on the Administration of Individual Business Registration” also bring a number of institutional dividends to a wide range of operators. For example, individual businesses that only operate online can register a website as a place of business, which helps them reduce operating costs; individual businesses can also apply for cross-regional migration like enterprises, without the need for additional registration after cancellation, which helps them to flexibly adapt to market changes; stipulates that individual management rights can be inherited according to law, which is conducive to their continued and long-term development. I'll just introduce these, thank you.

Poster News Reporter:

Compared to previous policies, what are the new highlights and breakthroughs of the “Opinion” in improving the distribution network in urban and rural areas and unleashing the consumption potential of the sinking market? Thank you.

Yuan Xiaoming:

Thank you to the reporter for the question. I will answer this question. Trade circulation is directly related to the convenience of residents' daily lives, the abundance of products and services, and the sense of access to a quality of life. In particular, in counties and regions where offline consumption is the main focus, it is even more important to further unblock distribution channels and update circulation carriers. A smooth channel allows circulation, and an excellent carrier means sufficient vitality. We take the upgrading of product circulation as an important gripper for boosting offline consumption and improving people's livelihood and welfare. Facility renovation and factor guarantee are promoted collaboratively to effectively respond to the public's daily concerns about “chai rice oil and salt” and the quality expectations of “clothing, food, lodging, and travel.”

First, the construction and renewal of distribution facilities adhere to hierarchical classification. In the county, the focus is on supporting the upgrading of traditional department stores, old shopping malls, etc., introducing brand chains, discount retail stores, fresh e-commerce stores, etc., upgrading a number of logistics distribution centers, and strengthening logistics distribution functions. In townships, we will deepen the renovation and upgrading of “thousands of stores”, support the construction and upgrading of township commercial and trade centers, agricultural trade markets, etc., and optimize township co-distribution sites. At the village level, support the construction of commercial processing facilities for agricultural products such as production warehouses, etc., and standardize the construction and transformation of new convenience stores and integrated village-level logistics service stations.

Second, the layout of commercial outlets is dynamically optimized. We will insist on following the population and following demand, and work with local authorities to comprehensively consider factors such as current stock business conditions and population movement trends, and dynamically adjust commercial layout guidelines. Where demand for quality is strong, promote the construction of high-energy consumer carriers such as core business districts and characteristic commercial districts. Where there is a shortage of supply, a number of large-scale commercial complexes have been rationally arranged, and domestic and foreign brands have been introduced to open their first regional stores. Resolutely avoid blind investment and repeated construction in places where supply is relatively oversupplied.

Third, we strive to create diverse and integrated consumption scenarios. Special consumption scenarios are an important vehicle for unleashing the county's consumption potential, and it is also a clear symbol that highlights the county's resource endowments and regional characteristics. Special events, “village supermarkets”, etc., are enjoyed by residents and have received a high level of attention. We will promote the integrated development of commerce, agriculture, cultural tourism and sports, deeply integrate commerce and cultural tourism, sporting events, intangible heritage exhibitions, folk festivals, etc., cultivate a number of special consumption scenarios such as “health care+,” “agriculture +,” and “historical classics +”, support neighboring counties to create classic routes across regions, innovate a consumer chain integrating one, two, three industries, and use unique consumption scenarios and perfect commercial facilities to transform more “tourists” into “customers”.

Fourth, revitalize idle resources and assets to focus on convenience and benefit the people. For example, in response to the problem of insufficient “one old, one small” service in the county area, we have proposed a transition support policy for those using existing real estate or land to develop livelihood industries in the county, such as pension and childcare, without changing land use subjects and planning conditions within five years. Another example is supporting county-level governments to use vacated office buildings and other idle state-owned assets to transform them into convenient commercial outlets, which can not only reduce construction costs, restore commercial value to existing assets, but also facilitate residents' daily consumption.

In order to ensure the implementation of relevant policies, we will work with relevant departments to launch a series of measures to guarantee factors. In terms of finance and finance, actions to activate consumption in the sinking market have been implemented, focusing on supporting the upgrading of consumption channels, scenario innovation, and efficiency improvement in counties and regions to make up for shortcomings in lifestyle services. Guide financial institutions to optimize financial services in the declining consumer sector, and increase support for project construction, entrepreneurship guarantees, etc. In terms of land security, distribution enterprises can implement mixed-use supply according to plans for logistics, warehousing, cold chain and other facilities in the county area, and implement flexible tenure sales according to the wishes of the enterprise. Places that are in a position to do so are encouraged to actively explore short-term land development and utilization, temporary changes in housing use, etc., to provide commercial services. In terms of entrepreneurship and employment, service occupations such as health, old-age care, and childcare are encouraged to be included in the county's catalogue of urgently needed talents, increase support for individual entrepreneurship “efficiently accomplish one thing” in the county, promote the construction of incubation carriers for returning to their hometowns to start businesses according to local conditions, and guide more talents to stay and develop. Thank you.

Beijing Daily Reporter:

In recent years, the integration of cultural tourism and related fields has continued to deepen. We have seen that “Benxian tours” and country tours have become new consumer hotspots in the sinking market. What are the new arrangements to promote cultural tourism consumption in the county? Thank you.

Koo Kewei, head of the Industrial Development Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism:

Thank you for your question, I'll answer that question. In recent years, people have become more and more fond of experiential spending with a strong sense of participation and relaxation. Many “treasure” towns and beautiful villages have become the first choice for everyone to relax and unwind. “Benxian County Tour” and country tours have become new consumption hotspots in the sinking market. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will focus on three aspects, including product supply, scenarios, and activities, to promote the upgrading of the county's cultural tourism economy, and promote cultural tourism consumption to unleash greater vitality.

The first is to improve the quality of supply to make cultural tourism in the county interesting. We guide 113 counties to carry out cultural industry pilot projects to empower rural revitalization, implement actions to improve the quality and efficiency of rural tourism, guide all regions to explore characteristic cultural tourism resources, enrich “small but beautiful” rural cultural tourism formats such as homestays, farming research, self-driving camping, folk experiences, etc., and continue to improve the “Four Seasons Country Scenery” boutique route, strengthen characteristic and differentiated products, so that small towns and villages can “travel, live, and experience” to create rural tourist destinations where you can see mountains, see water, and remember homesickness.

The second is to expand the consumption scenario to make the sinking market popular. We research and formulate relevant industry standards, guide the healthy and orderly development of the nighttime cultural tourism economy, and support places in a position to do so to create distinctive nighttime cultural tourism consumption scenarios. In recent years, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has also released a list of 67 national tourist entertainment products, including “Jianghu Show”, “Only Zhouzhuang”, and “Happy Dunhuang”, and a number of boutique projects rooted in the county area. We will promote the further expansion of high-quality performances into a conditionally declining market, cultivate brand events that follow shows, events, film and television trips, etc., guide all regions to develop a “ticket economy” according to local conditions based on shows, events, etc., launch integrated cultural tourism and business product packages, and implement ticket-linked discounts.

The third is to enrich activity carriers to bring warmth to cultural tourism services. We insist on the close integration of benefiting people's livelihood and promoting consumption, and continue to carry out national cultural and tourism consumption promotion activities. The Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day are approaching. We will host the National Day Cultural Tourism Consumption Month to launch a series of cultural tourism activities, welfare measures, and convenience services around welcoming the National Day and enjoying the autumn scenery. The focus will be on increasing the promotion of cultural tourism destinations in rural areas in the county. Continue to organize events such as the China Cultural Tourism Industry Expo, the “Four Seasons Intangible Heritage Shopping Month”, and “Village Shopping” to promote good cultural tourism products and intangible heritage goods, and connect the consumption chain of agricultural products, local cuisine, etc. through county tourism, so that everyone can enjoy beautiful scenery, enjoy food, and buy good things during the trip.

In the next step, we will also work with relevant departments to formulate policies and measures such as optimizing the allocation of natural resources to promote the standardized and orderly development of the tourism industry and promote the consumption of motorhomes, and research and promote the integrated development of cultural tourism businesses. Launch the creation of the first batch of national cultural and tourism industry development demonstration zones (units), play a leading role in promoting the county to improve the overall quality of cultural tourism industry development, and provide better supply and services to residents and tourists. Everyone is also welcome to use their leisure time such as vacations and weekends to walk around the county town and countryside, explore the beautiful scenery of the county area, and experience the slow life in the countryside. Thank you.

Pengpai News Reporter:

The vast sinking market is connected to heavy smoke. Many of them are individual businesses running small restaurants and small supermarkets. We have noticed that this year's “Report on the Work of the Government” specifically deployed the key task of “accurately classifying and helping the development of individual businesses”. What work have we done in this regard, please? Thank you.

Dulinya:

Thank you for your question, I'll answer that question. As you said, individual businesses are important carriers of heavy smoke.

The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to promoting the development of individual businesses. Since 2024, the General Administration of Market Regulation, together with 14 departments including the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, has continued to promote accurate classification to help individual businesses develop in response to the characteristics of a large number of individual businesses, diverse demands, and obvious differences in the level of development. We divide individual businesses that actually operate into “survival type,” “growth type,” and “development type,” and on this basis, we identify a group of individual businesses with distinctive characteristics, good honest management, and great potential for development as “famous,” “characteristic,” “high quality,” and “emerging,” that is, “famous, excellent, and new.”

We provide differentiated support measures through classification, form an effective demonstration driving effect through classification, focus on the characteristics and outstanding demands of the entire life cycle of individual business development, integrate resources from all aspects, strengthen accurate policy supply and hierarchical cultivation, and help individual businesses enhance their ability to operate, stimulate endogenous motivation, and extend the life cycle. Thanks to the joint efforts of all sectors of society, regions and departments, the quality of operation of individual businesses has continued to improve. The number of individual businesses established for more than 3 years reached 84.188 million, an increase of 9.7 percentage points over the end of 2020; a total of 184,000 “famous and new” individual businesses have been cultivated, and the median period of continuous operation reached 8.4 years.

Currently, online platforms have become an important vehicle and support for the entrepreneurship and development of individual businesses. In the second half of 2025, about 21.21 million individual businesses carried out business activities on the platform, an increase of 11.1% over the previous month. Compared with offline operations, it showed the unique advantages of large market space, low operating costs, and rapid product transformation. However, when operating online, individual businesses also face difficulties and problems such as insufficient capacity and outstanding compliance management risks.

According to the important arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to promote the growth of private economic development, accurately help the development of individual businesses, and promote the win-win development of platform enterprises and workers, on the basis of preliminary research and pilot promotion, the General Administration of Market Supervision issued the “Action Plan to Promote Platform Enterprises to Empower the Development of Individual Businesses” in July, which focuses on deploying and carrying out five special actions to integrate the strengths of market supervisory authorities, platform enterprises, etc., to help individual businesses develop on a large scale and vigorously.

First, through startup support actions, to solve the problems of “newbies” starting up and high operating costs; second, through key nurturing actions to solve the problems of “good products don't have good sales channels” and poor channel connections; third, through capacity improvement actions to solve the problems of difficult compliance management and insufficient digital operation capacity; fourth, through digital enabling actions to solve the problems of heavy operating burden and low operating efficiency; 5. Through innovative demonstration actions, all regions are encouraged to launch a package of innovative measures to support the online development of individual businesses and promote the formation of a number of innovative integration and integration measures to support the online development of individual businesses Learn from typical examples, and build a long-term practical path for platform enterprises to empower the development of individual businesses.

In the next step, market supervisory authorities will work with relevant departments to deepen policy collaboration, strengthen practical exploration, and push various business entities, including individual businesses, to play a greater role in stimulating declining market vitality and revitalizing consumption in counties. Thank you.

Jia Huili:

Please keep asking questions. Due to time constraints, the last two questions.

Dazhong News Dazhong Daily Reporter:

The level of development, population size, and resource endowments of different counties and regions vary greatly. How can precise policies be implemented in the process of implementing policies related to active county consumption? Thank you.

Yuan Xiaoming:

Thank you for your question. I would like to ask my colleague, Director Li Jialu, to answer this question.

Li Jialu:

As this reporter friend said, there are 1,869 county-level administrative districts outside the municipal district in our country, and the situation is very different. The core of our publication of this document is to give full play to the guiding and leading role of policy, delineate the main lines of work, clarify support measures, and leave sufficient room for local exploration. In advancing our work, we will firmly establish and implement a correct view of political performance, adhere to adapting to local conditions, classification policies, and seek facts to fully consider actual situations such as population distribution and market demand, develop unique county businesses, and resolutely avoid “one-size-fits-all”; adapt to changing trends in population movements in counties, strengthen analysis and judgment, and resolutely prevent blind construction and waste of resources; make full use of the existing commercial infrastructure foundation, focusing on transformation and upgrading, and resolutely avoiding large-scale demolition and construction, and low-level homogenous competition.

First, counties that are densely populated and have strong economic strength focus on “improving quality” and “leading.” These counties have strong consumption carrying capacity and a strong industrial base, and are the core growth poles driving the overall upgrading of consumption in counties. It is possible to target urban consumption quality and promote the upgrading of commercial systems, and introduce high-energy consumer carriers such as regional first stores and high-quality complexes to retain local high-end consumer demand. At the same time, encourage innovation and leadership, try first, actively cultivate new business formats and models that meet the characteristics of the county area, and strive to form a demonstration effect.

Second, counties with a moderate population and economic base focus on “root digging” and “characteristic empowerment.” This is the main part of China's counties. Residents' lives are relatively stable, consumer demand is growing steadily, and there is a lot of room for growth. It is necessary not only to consolidate the achievements of full coverage of commercial outlets, further improve facilities, improve business formats, enrich services, and steadily enhance the convenience and sense of quality of consumption. It is also necessary to explore comparative advantages based on one's own endowments, rely on differentiated resources such as ecological cultural tourism, health and leisure, folk culture, etc., to create highly recognizable county consumer business cards, and simultaneously improve commercial facilities.

Third, counties with small populations and relatively small economies focus on “underwriting” and “security.” Instead of pursuing greatness or completeness, we can take good care of the bullnose of the county, strengthen the coordination of commerce and logistics resources with the county town as the center, ensure that basic services are covered in place, and that reforms and upgrades are implemented to the best of our ability. Give full play to the power of supply, marketing, postal services, etc., extend services to remote villages, guarantee basic people's livelihood consumption needs, increase the coverage of “free express delivery” and “express delivery to villages”, and take good care of the “security network” to cover people's livelihood and the “last mile” of durable consumer goods delivery.

In the next step, we will respect the pioneering spirit of the grassroots and the masses, further improve the policy system, strengthen typical leadership, regularly follow up and evaluate, and push all regions to embark on the development path of various unique counties, so that the results of the policies can be reflected in current market vitality, in people's livelihood, and in the convenience of consumption that the public can perceive. Thank you.

Jia Huili:

Thank you. One last question.

Guangdong Radio and Television Reporter:

The document proposes to stimulate the vitality of the sinking market and boost consumption in the county area. Everyone is very concerned about the rural sector as an important consumer market. What targeted measures will be taken to further unleash the vitality of rural consumption? Thank you.

Song Danyang:

Thank you for your interest in the rural consumer market. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “To expand the space for modern development, agriculture and rural areas are a vast world with great promise. The modernization of hundreds of millions of farmers as a whole will unleash huge creative momentum and consumption potential, and inject strong impetus into economic and social development.” In recent years, various departments in various regions have made concerted efforts to consolidate the consumption base and continue to unleash rural consumption potential. Judging from the data for the first half of this year, retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas were 3321.6 billion yuan, an increase of 2.5% over the previous year, and the growth rate was 1.3 percentage points faster than in urban areas. Our department is focusing on the following three areas.

Make efforts to create a beautiful living space in the countryside, so that urban and rural residents can spend with confidence and comfort. Deeply implement rural construction actions, solidly promote the remediation and upgrading of the rural habitat environment, promote the rural toilet revolution, domestic sewage and waste treatment, and village appearance improvement in an integrated manner, and build livable, workable and beautiful villages. Raise the level of support for rural public services, and push all regions to continue to strengthen rural infrastructure construction such as roads, water supply and drainage, delivery and logistics. Strengthen the protection and inheritance of farming culture, cultivate civilized rural style, good family style, and simple folk style, and revitalize a new atmosphere of rural civilization. By improving the quality of life and the level of governance in rural areas, continuously optimizing the rural consumption environment, enhancing people's sense of attainment, happiness and security, it lays a good foundation for unleashing consumption potential.

Efforts are being made to cultivate new forms of consumption in rural areas, so that people in the city can go to the countryside to spend and experience consumption. Expand the diverse functions of agriculture, explore the diverse values of the countryside, develop new industries and formats such as leisure agriculture and rural e-commerce, innovate consumption scenarios such as festivals and intangible heritage experiences, create consumer hotspots such as village coffee and homestays, and cook tea in the oven, and promote cross-border integration of “agriculture+health” and “agriculture+research”. At present, our department has promoted more than 1,000 boutique rural leisure tourism routes to attract more urban residents to the countryside to enjoy the idyllic scenery and enjoy the local customs, effectively driving the growth of rural consumption such as dining, lodging, and shopping.

Efforts are being made to improve consumer facilities so that urban and rural residents can spend easily and nearby. On the one hand, our department has built 41 wholesale markets with 24 provinces (districts and cities) to drive the construction of a number of regional markets, field markets, and cold chain distribution centers, integrated and linked with the three-level logistics network in counties and villages to clear the two-way channel for “industrial products to the countryside, agricultural products to the city”. On the other hand, we are working with relevant departments to promote the construction of digital villages, improve rural network infrastructure, accelerate the digital and intelligent transformation of rural infrastructure, and inject new digital impetus into rural consumption.

In the next step, our Ministry, together with relevant departments, will continue to activate rural consumption as a key driving point, make every effort to promote a steady increase in farmers' income, create unique consumption scenarios, accelerate the release of rural consumption potential, and inject greater impetus into economic and social development. Thank you.

Jia Huili:

Thanks to all the publishers and friends who participated. That's all for today's press conference. See you next time!

This article was edited by China.com, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Wenfang.