On January 4th, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission jointly issued a notice on implementing the green consumption promotion initiative.
All provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the competent departments of commerce, development and reform, industry and information technology, ecology and environment, housing and urban-rural development, agriculture and rural affairs, market supervision, and financial regulatory authorities, the People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office, and the branches of the central bank in all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government:
In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the successive plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, and to fulfill the requirements of the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development" and the "Action Plan for Boosting Consumption" issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council, we will accelerate the green transformation of the development mode and consumption pattern, and expand green consumption. The following are the relevant matters regarding the implementation of the green consumption promotion action during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period:
1. Enrich the supply of green products
(1) Increase the supply of green agricultural products. Encourage enterprises to expand the purchase of high-quality products such as green food, organic agricultural products, special and superior new agricultural products, and agricultural products with geographical indications. Support the establishment of special sales zones for green agricultural products, displaying quality certification marks, traceability marks, and drug residue test results to ensure consumers' confidence in purchasing. Encourage green agricultural product production bases to participate in activities such as "agricultural supermarket connection" and "direct purchase from the base" with large supermarkets, community stores, and catering enterprises, to increase the market supply of green and high-quality agricultural products. Food operators in supermarkets and shopping malls should manage food nearing its expiration date separately, with special markings or centralized display for sale.
(2) Promote green home appliances and decoration. Encourage the purchase of green smart home appliances with green product certification, as well as non-chlorofluorocarbon air conditioners, etc. Improve relevant standards for energy efficiency and water efficiency of home appliances, and promote the construction of a green smart home appliance certification system. Encourage the selection of green home decoration and bathroom products, and the use of green building materials, focusing on green, intelligent, and elderly-friendly aspects. Support qualified high-quality green home appliance and decoration brands to be included in China's famous consumer brands. Continuously promote the green high-quality development of bulk cement.
(3) Promote green consumption of automobiles. Support consumers in purchasing new energy vehicles. Strengthen the automotive industry chain, tap the potential of the "aftermarket" sectors such as used cars, car rentals, car modifications, and car sharing, explore ways to increase income by revitalizing idle vehicles, and support the development of new types of consumption such as car camping, car cinemas, and self-driving tours.
II. Enhancing Green Service Consumption
(4) Promote green catering. Urge catering service enterprises and catering delivery platforms to comply with relevant laws and regulations, guide catering enterprises to implement green catering standards, consciously practice green development concepts, reduce smoke emissions, prevent food waste, and promote the use of degradable and reusable food boxes and packaging bags. Encourage catering service enterprises and enterprise-run canteens to guide consumers to order appropriately, practice the "clean plate campaign", and implement "small portion meals" and "small portion dishes", taking only what is needed. Encourage internet platform enterprises to launch "green catering" service logos. Cultivate green restaurants.
(5) Develop green accommodation. Cultivate green hotels, promote non-toxic, water-saving, biodegradable cleaning agents, guest room consumables, and fabric slippers, etc., which are biodegradable items. Provide large bottles or refillable types of bathing products and do not offer disposable plastic items. Innovate special services such as healthy sleep guest rooms. Guide online platforms to actively promote green hotels by adding signs, setting up special sections, etc. Encourage accommodation enterprises and related platforms to motivate consumers to practice green consumption through points, coupons, etc.
(6) Develop green home services. Promote environmentally friendly home care products and encourage the use of non-toxic and biodegradable cleaning agents. Innovate home service models and promote online booking and shared home care services. Encourage the application of intelligent devices to achieve automatic cleaning and intelligent control functions, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of home services.
III. Developing Innovative Green Consumption Models
(7) Building a green supply chain. Promote green development throughout the entire process, entire chain, and entire link of the supply chain. Promote green models such as joint distribution and the recycling of pallets (turning boxes). Promote green procurement, and prioritize the purchase and use of energy-saving, water-saving, material-saving, and low-noise environmental protection products, equipment, and facilities. Encourage the use of non-chlorofluorocarbon refrigeration equipment, as well as products that have completed ultra-low emission renovations and reached the environmental performance grade A level. Encourage enterprises to conduct supply chain carbon footprint evaluations in accordance with relevant standards and requirements. Increase the promotion of green products and green packaging, guide the use of environmentally friendly and degradable packaging materials, and innovate packaging recycling models. Promote the use of low (or no) volatile organic compound (VOCs) content products.
(8) Promote green consumption points. Encourage relevant industry associations to explore the establishment of a universal and interoperable green consumption point system both online and offline, clearly defining the recognition standards, settlement rules and management norms. Promote green product certification and labeling, relying on the China Green Product Labeling Certification Information Platform, to achieve the linkage and traceability of point collection and product certification information. Standardize the collection of green consumption points at the retail end, guiding consumers to obtain points by purchasing green products and using low-carbon services, and use them to redeem product discounts or service benefits. Encourage public service entities such as public transportation and venues to provide convenience or discounts for users of green consumption points. Strictly prohibit illegal activities such as purchasing or selling points, falsely consuming to obtain points, layer-by-layer commission distribution, and illegal conversion of points.
(IX) Promote green sharing through innovation. Vigorously develop green leasing services, innovate green consumption models, and encourage sharing of transportation, space, and items. Promote "artificial intelligence + green consumption", innovate smart products and smart scenarios, utilize advanced technologies to enhance resource matching and intelligent scheduling, improve the level of intelligent services, and promote efficient resource utilization.
IV. Promoting Green Recycling and Circular Utilization
(10) Reduce the use of disposable plastic products. Encourage retail merchants to reduce the use of disposable plastic shopping bags by providing canvas bags, shopping baskets, and shopping carts. Encourage e-commerce operators and courier companies to cooperate and implement the direct delivery of original packaging for goods that meet the logistics distribution requirements. Promote the application of recyclable courier packaging. Support the use of bamboo-based plastic substitutes. Implement a reporting system for the use and recycling of disposable plastic products.
(11) Promote the recycling and reuse of waste materials. Promote the establishment of a three-level recycling system consisting of "recycling points + transfer stations + regional sorting centers", with a focus on strengthening the layout of recycling outlets for used furniture and appliances, electronic products, textiles and clothing, etc. Encourage manufacturers of furniture and appliances, as well as car manufacturers, to establish reverse logistics systems and legally and in accordance with regulations, reuse components. Encourage market entities to recycle waste materials through online reservation of recycling platforms, trade-in programs, using vehicles as storage facilities, etc., and provide services such as intelligent recycling boxes and on-site appointment-based recycling. Promote the construction of a unified national recycling service platform. Support enterprises in conducting high-value utilization projects of recycled resources and encourage financial institutions to provide green credit support for recycling and reuse projects.
(12) Develop the circulation of second-hand goods. Support entities such as second-hand commodity trading markets, trading platforms, and business enterprises to explore the development of "Internet + second-hand goods", as well as new business models such as second-hand commodity leasing and after-sales repurchase. Encourage the establishment of second-hand stores and commodity consignment stores to leverage the utilization value of idle items and second-hand luxury goods. Encourage communities to hold "flea markets" and other activities, integrating them into the construction of the 15-minute neighborhood convenience life circle, to promote the circulation of idle items among neighbors.
V. Optimizing the Green Consumption Environment
(13) Promote energy-saving facilities and equipment. Encourage enterprises to use energy-efficient lighting, air conditioning, elevators, refrigeration, motors, sorting, etc. in a way that suits local conditions. Conduct energy efficiency assessments and carry out renovations and upgrades. Encourage enterprises to prioritize the use of green electricity to help reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption. Support the promotion of intelligent control systems to achieve intelligent management of energy usage. Encourage the optimization of green building designs, making full use of natural lighting and ventilation systems to reduce energy consumption.
(14) Promote the concept of green consumption. Vigorously promote the concept of green consumption and low-carbon lifestyles, advocate that consumers choose green transportation methods, bring their own water bottles, bags, and toiletries, and purchase low-carbon products with simple packaging. Encourage consumers to check the "no tableware" option when ordering takeout to reduce the use of disposable tableware. Guide commercial and e-commerce enterprises to actively display energy efficiency labels and carbon labels of products, support communities in conducting green public activities, and strengthen water and electricity conservation and garbage classification management.
(15) Strengthen public opinion guidance. Incorporate green consumption into the key publicity themes of the national ecological protection and energy conservation publicity weeks. Innovate the publicity methods for the "Ten Guidelines for Citizens' Ecological Behaviors", advocating a green and low-carbon lifestyle. In conjunction with the "Quarantine One Hour Convenient Life Service Month", hold annual community green consumption-themed activities to promote the concept of green consumption.
VI. Strengthening the Foundation of Green Consumption
(16) Cultivate green trading entities. Promote enterprises to benchmark against standards such as "Green Shopping Centers", "Green Restaurant Operations and Management", and "Green Hotels" on a regular basis. Encourage the implementation of green certifications and cultivate green business entities. Support leading enterprises in playing a leading role in the supply chain to drive the green development of upstream and downstream industries.
(17) Participate in the formulation of global rules. Promote the alignment of key standards in China's green consumption sector with international standards, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of standards and conformity assessment. Encourage industry associations to participate in the formulation of international standards related to green consumption, as well as related exchanges, discussions and technology promotion activities.
VII. Enhance policy support measures
(18) Strengthen policy integration. All localities and relevant departments should enhance policy coordination and work collaboration. Encourage the integration of green consumption promotion actions with modern commercial and distribution system construction pilot projects, pilot projects for new consumption models and new scenarios, pilot projects for the all-round promotion of 15-minute neighborhood convenience stores as a priority, retail industry innovation and improvement projects, and regular implementation of green store standards. Increase policy support. Support localities with the necessary conditions to offer certain reward policies for green stores and green restaurants.
(19) Increase credit supply. Encourage financial institutions to provide greater support for green consumption loans that meet the standards. Support banks in offering convenient services to users with good green consumption records. Encourage financial institutions to collaborate with commercial and trading enterprises to expand the application scenarios of green consumption loans.
(20) Innovate financial products. Encourage financial institutions to actively provide insurance coverage for green consumption. Explore the establishment of a project database for green consumption infrastructure, and regularly recommend high-quality projects for connection with financial institutions. Support eligible projects in issuing real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the infrastructure sector.
All regions should fully recognize the significant role of green consumption in expanding consumption. They should strengthen overall planning and systematic arrangement for its promotion. Efforts should be made to conduct in-depth analysis of green development, with a focus on monitoring the progress and effectiveness of enterprises in areas such as upgrading energy-saving facilities and equipment, selling green products, providing green packaging, and conducting green recycling. Timely summaries should be made of good experiences and practices in promoting green consumption.
