More support for spending on services

China will provide more robust policy support to boost the consumption of services, officials and experts said, pointing to a structural shift in domestic demand, where spending on services is increasingly becoming a primary driver of consumption.

"China has put forward sector-specific measures, such as relaxing market access, removing unjustified restrictions, fostering quality market players, and improving the consumption environment, to facilitate service consumption," said Vice-Minister of Commerce Yan Dong at a news conference.

His comments came after the State Council, the country's Cabinet, released a work plan to accelerate the cultivation of new growth drivers in service consumption in late January.

Targeting key sectors such as transportation services, domestic services, online audiovisual services, sojourn tourism services, automotive aftermarket and inbound consumption, the plan calls for measures to boost growth by improving service supply, advancing pilot programs, fostering innovative consumption scenarios and strengthening talent development.

For potential sectors including performance services, sports event services, and emotion and experience-oriented services, measures will be taken to cultivate new momentum by refining incentive mechanisms, enhancing safety management, fostering high-quality brands, and building supporting platforms, according to the plan.

Ministry of Commerce data show that China's service retail sales grew by 5.5 percent year-on-year in 2025, outpacing the growth of goods retail sales by 1.7 percentage points. Service-related consumer spending accounted for 46.1 percent of per capita household expenditure.

Sub-sectors such as culture, sports and leisure, tourism consulting and leasing, and transportation all maintained double-digit growth in retail sales.

As living standards improve, residents' consumption is shifting toward a greater balance between goods and services, said Kong Dejun, director-general of the ministry's department of trade in services.

In the years ahead, China's service consumption is poised to enter a phase of strategic importance, during which it will play a key role in boosting household spending and driving high-quality economic development, Kong added.

In the meantime, China's service consumption sector is also opening wider to the outside world. The country has optimized visa-free and tax refund policies to facilitate inbound tourism.

In 2025, the number of overseas visitors claiming tax refunds surged by 305 percent year-on-year, accompanied by a 95.9 percent rise in tax-refund eligible sales and a 95.8 percent growth in total refund value, according to data released by the State Taxation Administration.

China has also pledged to advance high-standard opening-up by promoting the orderly opening of the internet and cultural sectors, expanding the pilot programs for opening-up in fields such as telecommunications, healthcare and education.

Looking ahead, Chinese policymakers could put more days off into people's hands, as services consumption requires not just disposable income, but disposable time, said Luo Zhiheng, chief economist and head of the research institute at Yuekai Securities.