中国·福州——热爱城市从热爱美食开始

Fujian Introduces 30 Measures to Boost Consumption

Initiatives include supporting Fuzhou’s bid to become a City of Gastronomy and promoting the development of duty-free stores in Fuzhou and Xiamen

On May 28, it was learned from the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce that the Implementation Plan for the Special Action to Boost Consumption in Fujian Province has been issued. The Plan outlines a comprehensive strategy focused on stabilizing employment, increasing income, and boosting consumption, with the annual goals of creating 500,000 new urban jobs, maintaining the growth of per capita disposable income in line with economic growth, and achieving a 5.5% increase in total retail sales of consumer goods. 30 measures across seven key areas were proposed.

In terms of employment promotion and income increase, measures include stabilizing employment, building online “appointment-based” gig work platforms, and facilitating employment among key groups. Entrepreneurship is encouraged through subsidies of up to RMB 1,000 per recruit and a maximum of RMB 30,000 total for micro and small enterprises and self-employed individuals within their first three years of operation. It is planned to offer over 200,000 government-subsidized vocational training sessions this year, including over 60,000 training sessions for advanced-level workers. To increase rural incomes, the province will expand the implementation scope of “work-for-relief” programs and allocate over RMB 200 million in “work-for-relief” subsidies. It also plans to develop a brand matrix of “Funongyoupin”, nurturing 10 regional public brands and over 20 well-known agricultural product brands in 2025.

As for reducing burdens on households, maternity support is strengthened with new birth subsidy schemes for eligible families, and local governments are encouraged to issue marriage and childcare vouchers. Pediatric care will be expanded across all second-tier and third-tier public general hospitals. The “treatment before payment” model and special incentive programs for inpatient care without accompanying caregivers will be promoted in public medical institutions. Educational resources will be optimized by expanding high-quality high-school offerings and increasing public school capacity in urban centers, suburban areas, and county hubs to ensure full access to compulsory education for children of migrant workers. Pension support will be enhanced by increasing the basic pensions for retirees and raising the basic pensions for urban and rural residents. Protection for key groups shall be ensured. Eligible regions are encouraged to gradually promote the acceptance of minimum subsistence allowance applications submitted by non-registered residents at their habitual places of residence. Trade unions are encouraged to collaborate with commercial insurance institutions to develop innovative protection products, such as personal accident insurance and other occupational injury protection schemes for new forms of employment, including truck drivers, ride-hailing drivers, couriers, and food delivery workers.

In terms of improving service consumption for public benefit, the provision of elderly care and childcare services will be strengthened. By the end of the year, the province aims to have established no fewer than 100 embedded elderly care institutions, 1,000 senior canteens, and 10,000 in-home care beds. Governments at or above the county level must allocate over 60% of their locally retained portion of the welfare lottery public welfare funds to the development of elderly care services. The number of childcare slots for children under the age of three should reach 4.5 per 1,000 people. Efforts will be made to improve catering services, support Fuzhou in its bid to become a City of Gastronomy, and encourage localities to increase the distribution of dining vouchers. Domestic services will be optimized by promoting the use of electronic in-home service certificates.

As for the development of the sports event economy, the province encourages localities to leverage their natural mountain and water resources and vigorously develop outdoor sports such as water and mountain activities. It will promote the performing arts market by optimizing administrative services for performances and encouraging local governments to introduce initiatives such as “airfare and ticket vouchers as consumption coupons”. Efforts to integrate culture and tourism include launching characteristic promotions like “Travel Fujian by High-speed Rail” and “Tour with the Games”, as well as the 2025 “A Journey of Mountains, Seas, and Songs” thematic year of boosting consumption through culture and tourism and a series of consumption promotion activities. New digital culture and tourism formats will be cultivated at an accelerated pace. The province plans to open more than 25 international cruise homeport routes and receive over five visiting international cruises this year to expand cruise tourism. It will strengthen inbound tourism services, advance the construction of duty-free stores in Fuzhou and Xiamen, create business districts friendly to inbound consumption, intensify the publicity of the 240-hour visa-free transit policy, establish the Fujian Inbound Premium Tourism Alliance, and guide tourism market entities to actively explore overseas tourist source markets.

Regarding the renewal and upgrading of bulk consumption, the province will intensify efforts in the trade-in program and encourage more advantageous products from Fujian Province, such as decoration materials and sanitary ware, to participate in the trade-in activities. Housing consumption will be supported through policies like “relocation with housing voucher”, houses of “shared ownership”, and housing trade-in. Eligible local governments are encouraged to offer housing subsidies and house purchase vouchers. Localities are supported to purchase and repurpose unsold commercial housing for dormitories for college students, community elderly care service buildings, staff dormitories, housing for migrant workers, talent houses, youth apartments, etc. Urban village and dilapidated housing renovation projects will be accelerated, and the scope of the housing provident fund will be expanded. To promote auto consumption, localities are encouraged to support the growth of second-hand car dealers and foster the transition from brokerage to dealership models. By the end of the year, the province aims to build more than 80,000 public charging piles and achieve full township-level coverage of public charging infrastructure.

In terms of “enhancing consumption quality”, the province will support the launch economy through the development of the “Fujian Product Launch” platform, launch economy clusters, and “first store+” operation carriers. New consumption formats such as health check-ups, traditional Chinese medicine wellness services, and regulated and orderly medical aesthetic services will be supported. Efforts will be made to foster high-quality e-commerce by promoting the “livestreaming + industrial belt” model and expanding cross-border e-commerce imports, including the hosting of the China Cross-border E-commerce Fair. Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Sanming are encouraged to apply for civil unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) test zones to promote low-altitude sightseeing, aerial photography, drone performances, island tourism, and other businesses. Export enterprises will receive targeted effective assistance. The integrated internal and external trade scheme will be implemented. A series of activities such as the “Foreign Trade Premium Products China Tour (Fujian)” will be held to enable high-quality foreign trade products to enter exhibitions, communities, and walking streets.

As for improving the consumption environment, rest and vacation rights will be ensured. Trade unions at all levels should regard the reasonable arrangement of workers’ rest and vacation as a key component of labor law supervision. They are encouraged to promote staggered holidays, segmented vacations, and flexible working hours. Trade unions are also encouraged to expand the scale of employee convalescence and rest programs and enrich cultural and sports activities for employees. The government will let consumers rest assured by comprehensively promoting the establishment of a public commitment system among market entities. Authorities will guide business operators to improve mechanisms such as unconditional returns for in-store purchases, advance compensation, and online dispute resolution (ODR). Regulators will deepen the governance of bundled television service fees and overly complicated operations. The government will enhance consumer-related infrastructure by increasing support for the development of projects in areas such as vocational training, education and healthcare, elderly care and childcare, as well as culture, tourism, and sports. The coverage of core commercial areas with 5G networks and the Internet of Things will be promoted. The province will accelerate the construction of public parking lots (buildings), aiming to build 11,000 new 5G base stations and add 20,000 new urban public parking spaces this year.

In terms of cleaning up and optimizing restrictive measures, the province supports the gradual extension of opening hours at eligible tourist attractions and museums, encourages the development of 24-hour business outlets, and allows large commercial enterprises to use their premises for outdoor sales. Pilot programs for storefront operations on sidewalks will be tested in selected areas. The business environment will be optimized by simplifying the approval process for night markets and improving procedures related to licenses and permits. Unnecessary administrative inspections will be reduced. (Wu Huazhen, Reporter of Fuzhou Daily)