Promoting consumption is the top priority for expanding domestic demand. At the recent local two sessions, several major economic provinces announced their targets for the growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods by 2025, with Henan at around 6%, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Sichuan at around 5.5%, over 5%, around 5%, and 5% respectively. Tian Lihui, Dean of the Institute of Financial Development at Nankai University, stated in an interview with reporters that several major economic provinces have set targets for the growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods by 2025 at 5% or above, demonstrating local governments' confidence in the consumer market and positive expectations for economic growth. Consumption is an important driving force for economic growth, especially in the face of uncertainty in investment and exports. Stable growth in consumption can effectively stimulate domestic demand and promote sustainable economic development. By promoting consumption, we can meet the increasingly diverse and high-quality needs of residents, and enhance their quality of life and happiness. In addition, the activity of the consumer market can drive the development of related industries, create more job opportunities, and form a virtuous cycle of economic growth and employment Tian Lihui said. On January 15th, Li Gang, Director of the Market Operation and Consumption Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce, stated at the "China's High Quality Economic Development Results" series press conference held by the State Council Information Office that in 2024, the trade in of consumer goods will drive sales of related products to exceed 130 billion yuan. Xiong Yuan, Chief Economist of Guosheng Securities, stated in an interview with reporters that the "two new" policies in 2024 have had a good effect on promoting consumption. For example, after the introduction of the "Several Measures to Strengthen Support for Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade in" in July 2024, the growth rates of home appliances, office supplies, and automobiles rebounded significantly from August to October, driving up the total retail sales of consumer goods and providing key support for the overall consumption rebound during the same period. This year, the implementation of the "two new" policies is expected to further promote the recovery of consumption in 2025. From the government work reports of various regions this year, it can be seen that the "two new" policies are constantly strengthening and expanding their coverage. For example, Zhejiang Province has proposed to implement the "two new" policies by intensifying efforts to expand the surrounding areas. Strengthen online and offline linkage, continuously promote the exchange of old for new consumer goods such as automobiles, mobile phones, home appliances, electric bicycles, and update medical equipment, elevators and other equipment, optimize policy design, subsidy procedures, and payment methods, improve the efficient service mechanism of "easier to get rid of old and more willing to exchange for new", and expand the scope of policy benefits. Henan Province has proposed to implement the "two new" policies to expand the city, update 500000 cars and 8 million household appliances, implement 3000 equipment renewal projects, and increase industrial equipment investment by 10%. This year, the intensity of the 'two new' policies continues to increase, expanding the scope and raising standards to make the 'two new' more closely related to the production and daily necessities of the people. This can not only stimulate consumption, but also drive investment through consumption, promoting the realization of a virtuous cycle and transformation and upgrading of the economy Zhang Yiqun, Vice Chairman of the Performance Management Committee of the Chinese Society of Finance, told Securities Daily reporters that the "two new" policies should be implemented in detail: first, to improve the system, optimize the subsidy process, and simplify the subsidy channels; Secondly, strengthen supervision, crack down on fraud and prevent the embezzlement of subsidy funds; The third is to improve performance, timely analyze the implementation of the "two new" policies, adjust the subsidy scope ratio in a targeted manner, and ensure that the policies truly play a role in driving consumption. Actively carrying out the "Consumption+" action, various regions have adopted the approach of "government stepping up, enterprises singing, public participation, and integrated interaction" to carry out rich and diverse "Consumption+" actions, further optimizing the consumption experience, and transforming the "traffic" brought by the activities into "increment" of economic development. Guangdong Province proposes to innovate diversified consumption scenarios, promote the expansion and improvement of service consumption such as health, elderly care, childcare, home care, and digital services, promote the healthy development of electronic sports, social e-commerce, live streaming e-commerce, etc., and create a "Guangdong Night, Guangdong Beauty" nighttime cultural and tourism brand. Zhejiang Province has proposed to expand new consumption scenarios and formats, cultivate and strengthen the first-time economy, silver economy, exhibition economy, performing arts economy, and event economy, enhance the scale and efficiency of commercial and nighttime economies, and create more boutique projects and popular IPs. From the statements made at the two sessions in various regions, it can be seen that innovating diversified consumption scenarios is one of the key drivers for promoting consumption in 2025 Xiong Yuan believes that diversified consumption scenarios are often achieved in the form of various offline service consumption such as catering, tourism, culture and entertainment. Considering that service consumption accounts for more than 50% of residents' overall consumption, innovating diversified consumption scenarios can help enhance consumer experience, tap potential consumption demand, and assist in overall consumption recovery. (New Society)