Ministry of Commerce and Six Other Departments: Accelerate Promotion of AI Phones, Computers, Smart Wearables, Robots, and Smart Home Products

IT Home, August 31 — The Ministry of Commerce and six other departments have issued implementation opinions on promoting the expansion and upgrading of commodity consumption.

The document mentions smart consumption. It proposes building national AI application pilot bases in the consumption sector, improving the R&D mechanism for AI products, and launching a batch of internationally leading smart consumer goods with significant consumption potential. It calls for accelerating the promotion and application of AI phones and computers, smart wearables, smart robots, smart home products, and other items.

It also suggests building consumption infrastructure such as "AI + Consumption" clusters and collective stores, as well as AI application experience centers.

The guidelines point out the need to deepen reform pilots in automobile circulation and consumption, accelerate the elimination of unreasonable restrictive measures in this sector, innovate automobile use and management models, and expand automobile consumption across the entire chain. Relevant regions are urged to optimize vehicle purchase restriction measures to better meet residents' car-buying needs. The policy aims to cultivate and expand the automotive aftermarket, support the development of vehicle modification, maintenance and repair, racing sports, and RV camping, and establish a certification and management system for classic cars.

It stresses improving inter-departmental information sharing mechanisms and establishing a life-cycle information exchange system covering car sales, registration, maintenance, insurance, and scrapping. The directives also seek to improve the used car circulation management system, promote mutual recognition of unified invoices for used car sales, and implement tiered and classified management for used car operators. A three-year action plan will be implemented to promote the high-quality development of small and micro passenger car leasing, improving service quality and efficiency.

The policy requires improving the recycling system for scrapped vehicles and strengthening the qualification certification and management of scrapping and dismantling enterprises. Furthermore, it calls for improving the construction of energy-supply infrastructure for new energy vehicles along highways and at transportation hubs, ensuring balanced coverage and supply-demand matching for public charging piles and urban parking lots. It also promotes the quality upgrade of highway service areas, including charging facility upgrades and age-friendly renovations of public restrooms, to create a batch of high-standard vehicle stations and consumption clusters along transportation routes.

IT Home attaches the full text below:

Commodity consumption is a crucial area for promoting consumption and benefiting people's livelihoods, playing an important leading and supporting role in building a strong domestic market, developing new quality productive forces, and meeting the people's needs for a better life. To implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and promote the expansion and upgrading of commodity consumption, the following implementation opinions are hereby proposed.

I. Overall Requirements

Adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC and all plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, and earnestly implementing the outline of the "15th Five-Year Plan," efforts will be made to strengthen brand leadership, upgrade standards, and apply new technologies. The focus will be on promoting the consumption of large and durable goods, steadily increasing the consumption of daily necessities, supporting the consumption of specialty goods, and cultivating and expanding the consumption of upgraded goods. This will promote the expansion and upgrading of commodity consumption, providing strong support for boosting consumption, expanding domestic demand, and building a strong domestic market.

During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the scale of commodity consumption will expand steadily, its structure will be optimized and upgraded, and the advantages of an ultra-large market will continue to manifest. By 2030, total retail sales of consumer goods will reach about 60 trillion yuan, cultivating and forming 10-trillion-yuan-level markets such as green consumption, smart consumption, and health consumption, and promoting their continuous development and expansion. The retail sales of trillion-yuan-level categories such as automobiles, home appliances, communication equipment, and textile and apparel will continue to grow, maintaining a globally leading market scale.

II. Promoting the Consumption of Large and Durable Goods

(1) Automobile consumption. Deepen reform pilots in automobile circulation and consumption, accelerate the elimination of unreasonable restrictive measures in this sector, innovate automobile use and management models, and expand automobile consumption across the entire chain. Relevant regions are urged to optimize vehicle purchase restriction measures to better meet residents' car-buying needs.

Cultivate and expand the automotive aftermarket, support the development of vehicle modification, maintenance and repair, racing sports, and RV camping, and establish a certification and management system for classic cars. Improve inter-departmental information sharing mechanisms and establish a life-cycle information exchange system covering car sales, registration, maintenance, insurance, and scrapping. Improve the used car circulation management system, promote mutual recognition of unified invoices for used car sales, and implement tiered and classified management for used car operators.

Implement a three-year action plan to promote the high-quality development of small and micro passenger car leasing, improving service quality and efficiency. Improve the recycling system for scrapped vehicles and strengthen the qualification certification and management of scrapping and dismantling enterprises. Improve the construction of energy-supply infrastructure for new energy vehicles along highways and at transportation hubs, ensuring balanced coverage and supply-demand matching for public charging piles and urban parking lots.

Promote the quality upgrade of highway service areas, including charging facility upgrades and age-friendly renovations of public restrooms, to create a batch of high-standard vehicle stations and consumption clusters along transportation routes.

(2) Home furnishing consumption. Accelerate the promotion and application of smart home technologies, cultivate a group of large home decoration enterprises and platforms that operate with integrity and standardized services, and guide enterprises to launch personalized and diversified products and service packages. Vigorously develop customized, order-based, and appointment-based services, support enterprises in establishing smart home experience centers, and support families in carrying out whole-house smart renovations.

Improve the recycling system for used furniture, and support enterprises in providing "deliver new + collect old" and "Internet + recycling" services.

(3) Home appliance consumption. Encourage home appliance retailers to collaborate with manufacturers and recycling enterprises to carry out promotional activities. Make good use of the support funds for pilot cities of the modern commerce and circulation system to promote specialized and standardized home appliance recycling services into streets, communities, and villages.

Facilitate door-to-door dismantling and recycling of used home appliances, as well as the delivery and installation of new products, and upgrade and improve home appliance sales networks, warehousing and distribution centers, and after-sales maintenance networks.

III. Steadily Improving the Consumption of Daily Necessities

(4) Food consumption. Strengthen the production and supply of green and high-quality agricultural products. Encourage food production enterprises to apply digital food labels to enhance consumers' experience in reading food labels.

Strengthen the connection between production and sales of agricultural products, vigorously develop rural e-commerce, and accelerate the remediation of shortcomings in cold chain express logistics for agricultural products. Establish a grading, packaging, and labeling system for agricultural products. Strengthen market monitoring of daily necessities such as grain, oil, meat, eggs, milk, fruits, and vegetables to ensure market supply.

(5) Beverage consumption. Encourage enterprises to adapt to changes in consumer demand and develop diversified beverages. Raise tea beverage standards, improve tea beverage quality, and cultivate world-class tea beverage brands.

Encourage coffee origins to extend the coffee industry chain and develop cultural, tourism, and leisure experience projects such as coffee picking, processing, and roasting. Encourage chain brands of tea and coffee to actively expand into county-level consumption markets.

(6) Textile and apparel consumption. Promote textile and apparel consumption...