Tourists enjoy themselves at a cultural and gourmet block in Liupanshui, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province on July 30, 2026. Leveraging diverse offerings including nighttime dining, evening performances and nightscape leisure activities, the ancient town has become an integrated multi-format block, continuously unleashing consumption vitality. Photo: VCG

China has unveiled a package of new policy measures to energize lower tier markets and boost county level consumption, according to a document released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and eight other central government departments.

The guideline targets consumption channel upgrading, business model innovation, brand building, and better supply of goods and services for rural residents.

To enrich product and service offerings, authorities encourage enterprises to bring high quality, cost effective goods to county markets and launch new products in eligible counties. 

Strong support will be given to new energy vehicles (NEVs) and smart green products for rural households, together with expanded rural charging infrastructure.

The policy also promotes integrated development of commerce, agriculture, culture, tourism and sports. It calls for extending consumption chains around performances and sporting-event tickets, improving nighttime cultural tourism consumption and building distinctive rural tourism destinations.

On consumption channel upgrades, the document supports renovation of traditional department stores and old shopping malls, and optimized layouts for chain stores, discount retailers and fresh food e commerce outlets. 

For business innovation, the guideline streamlines approval procedures store openings. Local authorities are encouraged to foster virtual reality experiences, “AI powered consumption”, second hand trading and rental based green consumption.

Efforts will also modernize county level logistics systems. Authorities will push ahead with integrated passenger, cargo postal services in rural areas to better connect commercial and express delivery networks across counties.

To raise residents’ spending capacity, the policy also seeks to expand local jobs by encouraging corporate branches and platform businesses to set up operations in counties, and bolster employment for migrant workers returning to their rural homes.

Boosting domestic consumption is critical for China’s economic growth, and tapping county market potential forms a key part of this strategy, analysts said.

Official data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows total retail sales of consumer goods reached 28.77 trillion yuan ($4.26 trillion) from January to July, rising 1.2 percent year on year. Urban retail sales gained 1.1 percent, while rural consumption outpaced it with a 2.4 percent increase.

Global Times