Crowds are seen at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station on May 4, 2023. It is the first working day after the five-day May Day holidays during which China saw a travel boom with 274 million trips made across the country. Photo: VCG

China's consumption in the second half will continue recovering and further consolidate its fundamental role in economic development, Vice Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping told a press conference on Tuesday.

Sheng expressed optimism about a further rebound following the expected implementation of more targeted policies to increase domestic consumption and demand, extending the recovery seen in the first half.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Monday that China's first-half retail sales rose 8.2 percent year-on-year, with final consumption expenditure contributing 77.2 percent of GDP growth. 

Consumption has played a vital role in China's economic recovery, and consumption will rise further for the rest of the year during periods such as the October National Day holiday and the "double eleven" shopping festival, Li Changan, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Sheng highlighted the strong recovery of the services industry, booming demand for green and smart products and healthcare, and growing interest in high-quality products during the first half.

China aims to further boost consumption amid the steady recovery. The latest move came from the Ministry of Commerce and 12 other departments to promote home consumption.

These ministries jointly issued 11 measures on Tuesday aimed at improving quality, creating innovative shopping scenarios, improving consumption conditions and optimizing the consumption environment.
 
Sheng said that the measures will target supply and demand, while accelerating green and low-carbon development. 

Li said that home consumption is a significant activity for Chinese consumers and connects closely with their everyday lives. He stressed that the pick-up in home consumption reflects the revival of the property market, with more policy support to come for other major consumption categories. 

For instance, three authorities including the Ministry of Finance in June issued a notice to extend and optimize the purchase tax exemption for buying new-energy vehicles from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025. 

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, said on Tuesday that China will formulate and introduce more effective policies to restore and expand consumption as soon as possible, the Xinhua News Agency reported.  

The policies will focus on stabilizing consumer spending on big-ticket items, promoting consumption of automobiles and electronic products, boosting consumption in rural areas, and improving the consumption environment, said Jin Xiandong, an official with the NDRC.