Consumption key to development, official says

China will comprehensively promote consumption to further tap its potential in supporting economic development, a senior official said on Friday.

"In coherence with the trend of consumption upgrading, the country will comprehensively promote consumption toward the green, healthy and safe spectrum, develop service consumption and encourage new consumption models and new business forms," said Ning Jizhe, vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a media conference on the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

China will also promote the transformation of consumer goods such as automobiles, to focus more on a utilization-related consumption rather than a purchase-based one, as well as promote healthy development of housing consumption, Ning said, also head of the National Bureau of Statistics.

Other measures to take in order to strengthen consumption and enhance people's livelihood include developing contactless transaction services, promoting the integrated development of online and offline consumption, boosting urban and rural consumer markets, implementing a paid vacation system, boosting holiday consumption, improving the consumption environment and strengthening consumer rights protection.