China releases guideline to stimulate information consumption

BEIJING - China will make more efforts to bolster information consumption in the next few years as part of an effort to stimulate domestic demand and shore up economic growth.

An official guideline released Friday said China aims to boost the consumption of information products and services to 6 trillion yuan ($880 billion) in 2020 and ensure an annual growth rate of at least 11 percent starting this year.

The goal marked a significant increase from the 4.5 trillion yuan registered in 2017.

The document was jointly released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the National Development and Reform Commission.

China's policymakers see this new type of consumption as one of the most innovative, rapidly-growing and widely-adopted economic spheres that is significant in driving domestic demand, creating jobs and pushing forward industrial upgrades.

Information consumption expanded twice as fast as the country's total consumption growth and contributed over 0.4 percentage points to the country's 6.9 percent year-on-year GDP growth last year.

The document said information technology having a more significant role in consumption would help increase the combined output of related industries to 15 trillion yuan in 2020.

Over the next three years, China will channel more energy into improving the country's internet infrastructure, pledging that 98 percent of villages will enjoy fiber-optic internet and 4G services.

China will speed up the research on 5G standards and technological tests to initiate the commercial use of the technology.

More favorable measures are in the pipeline to support the development of electronic products, cutting-edge display screens, and vehicle networking, according to the document, as the government holds that various and abundant tech products will help stimulate information demand.

China will also create a sound business environment, cut red tape, and improve the protection of personal information and intellectual property, the document said.