Commerce Ministry to Issue Series of Targeted Policies to Expand High‑Quality Service Consumption

Service consumption is getting a policy push from China’s Ministry of Commerce (Shangwu Bu 商务部).

This announcement came at a State Council Information Office (Guoxin Ban 国新办) press briefing on September 17, 2025.

Kong Dejun (Kong Dejun 孔德军), Director of the Service Trade Division (Fumao Si 服贸司), outlined the next moves and a “1+N” policy framework aimed at expanding high‑quality service‑sector consumption.

This article breaks down the policy details, practical implications for investors, founders, techies, and marketers, and what to watch next.

Quick context: Why service consumption matters

The ministry frames service consumption as the intersection of economic activity and people’s livelihoods.

It notes high purchase frequency, strong multiplier effects, and sustainable growth potential tied to services.

The policy push is pitched as a lever for economic transformation, stabilizing and expanding employment, and improving living standards.

Over 30 policy documents have already been released under the “1+N” system to coordinate multi‑agency action.

• Financial Support: Targeted refinance for elderly care, interest subsidies for service sector business loans and personal consumption loans, backed by People’s Bank of China.
• Sector-Specific Policies: Upcoming files for accommodation industry development and railway/tourism integration.
• Consumption Scenes: Driving local innovation for “tourism+”, “food+”, “sports+”, “performing arts+” models.
• Events & Campaigns: Two years of Service Consumption Season (280+ activities), guiding local governments for festivals and events.
• Platforms & Pilots: Building pilot cities, “15-minute urban convenience life circles,” and international consumption centers.
• Consumer Environment: Three-year campaign for optimization, strengthened supervision, service-quality monitoring, improved credit systems.
• Coordination: Interdepartmental mechanisms to unblock bottlenecks and cultivate new growth points.

Press Q&A — What the Ministry will do next

At the briefing, Kong Dejun (Kong Dejun 孔德军) said the ministry will focus on six areas to drive high‑quality development of service consumption.

Below is each area, the practical steps announced, and an investor/operator take on what it means.

1. Policies (zhua zhengce)

The ministry has coordinated cross‑departmental supportive policies this year.

These include measures to add “silver‑age” tourist trains, expand and upgrade household services, promote health consumption, and improve quality and affordability of services.

Financial measures already in place include targeted refinance for elderly care services, interest subsidies for service sector business loans, and interest subsidies for personal consumption loans.

The People’s Bank of China (Zhongguo Renmin Yinhang 中国人民银行) has also described related support measures.

The ministry will release focused policy files on accommodation industry high‑quality development and on railway and tourism integration, forming a combined policy “one‑two punch.”

Remember: the public record shows over 30 policy documents under the “1+N” service‑consumption policy system.

What this means for investors and founders:

A clearer subsidies and refinance picture reduces financing friction for eldercare, hospitality, and travel tech startups.

Expect growth in companies that build travel packages combining rail + destination experiences, and in hospitality platforms that can demonstrate compliance with upgraded standards.

2. Consumption Scenes (zhua changjing)

The ministry will back local innovation to create diversified consumption scenes that deliver emotional value and richer experiences.

Examples of integrated models the ministry will promote include “tourism+”, “food+”, “sports+”, and “performing arts+”.

This pushes convergence among commerce, travel, culture, sports, and health.

The ministry will publish batches of local pilot cases of scene innovation that are socially engaging and creatively novel.

Practical angle for marketers and operators:

Scene‑driven marketing and product bundling will be a winning playbook.

Think joint promos (local cuisine + film tie‑ins), experiential retail, and partnerships between venues and service platforms to lock in repeat visits.

3. Events and Campaigns (zhua huodong)

The ministry ran a Service Consumption Season for two consecutive years, launching more than 280 focused activities and cross‑departmental initiatives.

Examples include themed food festivals tied to films or cultural events, and the co‑production of the TV program “Three Meals, Four Seasons” to showcase local cuisines.

Going forward, officials will guide local governments to stage food festivals, travel seasons, performance seasons, eldercare months, and fashion weeks to cultivate new consumption hotspots.

Opportunity:

Event planners, content creators, and platform partners should prepare to supply logistics, digital ticketing, and cross‑promotion services aligned with local themes.

Branded activations that can be rolled out across multiple cities will scale best.

4. Platforms and Pilots (zhua pingtai)

Building pilot cities for new consumption formats, models, and scenes is a core strategy.

Plans include accelerating construction of 15‑minute urban convenience life circles, diversifying local services, and improving living environments for living, working, travel, shopping, and elder‑ and child‑care.

The ministry will also speed up cultivation of international consumption center cities with globally attractive consumer environments.

Why platform builders should care:

Local pilot cities will be early markets for logistics, last‑mile services, neighborhood‑level digital experiences, and eldercare tech.

Companies that can integrate physical and digital service layers (O2O models) are positioned to capture these micro‑ecosystems.

5. Consumption Environment (zhua huanjing)

Officials emphasized a healthier, more trustworthy consumer environment as essential.

Actions announced include a three‑year campaign to optimize the consumer environment, strengthened cross‑departmental joint supervision, and guidance for compliant operations.

The ministry will also push service‑quality monitoring, service‑quality commitment initiatives, and improved credit systems for household services.

Standards will be refined to raise industry normativity and standardization.

Investor signal:

Stricter supervision and standardized quality metrics create a higher barrier to entry for undifferentiated players.

But they also de‑risk scale‑up for firms that can demonstrate compliance and measurable service quality.

6. Coordination Mechanisms (zhua jizhi)

Service consumption spans many sectors and agencies, so the ministry plans to improve interdepartmental coordination.

They will leverage an interagency coordination mechanism to carry out quality‑improvement and benefit‑for‑the‑people actions, unblock development bottlenecks, and cultivate new growth points.

The goal is long‑term, systemic work that advances high‑quality development of service consumption.

Strategic takeaway:

Policymakers want solutions that scale across jurisdictions and sectors.

Startups and incumbents that build interoperable platforms and partner effectively with local governments will have a competitive edge.

What to watch next — short list for founders and investors

• Follow‑up policy files on high‑quality development of the accommodation industry (hotels, short‑term rentals, etc.).
• New policy guidance and pilots for integrating railways and tourism (e.g., more tourist trains, rail‑based travel packages).
• Local pilots and national campaigns that build new consumption scenes and expand consumer demand.

Why this matters — the pragmatic view

The ministry’s strategy combines policy support, scene and event building, pilot platforms, environment improvements, and institutional coordination.

The goal is to convert broad policy intent into visible consumption growth that supports jobs in services, unlocks household spending, and helps regional economies adapt to structural change.

For investors, founders, techies, and marketers, this creates clear demand signals in eldercare, hospitality, travel tech, experiential retail, and local platform infrastructure.

If you operate in or serve those verticals, plan for compliance upgrades, local partnerships, and productized experiences that can scale across pilot cities.

Actionable next steps for practitioners

• Map how upcoming accommodation and rail‑tourism policies affect your unit economics and regulatory compliance needs.
• Design modular “scene” products (e.g., food + entertainment bundles) that can be tested in local pilots.
• Prioritize partnerships with local governments and cultural institutions to gain fast access to event calendars and subsidies.
• Build service‑quality monitoring and public commitments into your product to align with the three‑year campaign to optimize the consumer environment.

Bottom line:

China’s Ministry of Commerce (Shangwu Bu 商务部) is turning a multi‑layered policy play into concrete actions to boost service consumption, and the market response window is now for companies and investors who can move fast and meet higher quality and compliance expectations.

References

• 商务部：将出台住宿业高质量发展、铁路与旅游融合发展等系列特色文件扩大服务消费 – 东方财富
• 19项措施扩大服务消费 9部门发文 – 东方财富
• Press and Information — Ministry of Commerce of the PRC (Shangwu Bu 商务部)

Service consumption is the core theme here, and it should be on the roadmap for anyone building or investing in China’s consumer, travel, eldercare, and hospitality ecosystems.