China's Zhejiang rolls out guideline to spur consumption

HANGZHOU - Eastern China's Zhejiang province has released a guideline to spur consumption with moves including gradually relaxing car purchase rules in the provincial capital Hangzhou.

The province, home to e-commerce giant Alibaba and the major commercial hubs of Yiwu and Wenzhou, will focus on stimulating digital, health and car consumption as the epidemic situation has improved, according to the guideline.

The province rolled out 16 specific moves, including promoting online services such as online markets, restaurants and livestream shopping, accelerating AI applications in the consumption area and 5G infrastructure construction.

The guideline also noted spurring car spending in urban and rural areas, as well as promoting the secondhand car market.

To increase leisure spending, the province encouraged government agencies, companies, and institutions to explore a 4.5-day workweek, following the moves of multiple Chinese provinces.