Economic planner stresses quality of products and services

China will take measures to improve the supply of high quality products and services, a National Development and Reform Commission official said on Friday.

Cheng Jianlin, deputy secretary-general of the NDRC, said at a press conference of the State Council Information Office, "China will deepen the supply-side structural reform of consumption, remove system obstacles in the fields like education, sports and provision for the aged through innovation, and enhance policy support for consumption."

For instance, the government will push forward universities, enterprises and institutions to open their sports facilities to the public and accelerate the establishment of standards for smart home and wearable devices.

China has huge potential for consumption of high quality products and services, Chen said. During October's week-long National Day holiday, the number of Chinese tourists hit nearly 600 million, with tourism incomes totaling almost 500 billion yuan ($74 billion). It is estimated that the number of cruise tourists will increase to 4.5 million at a growth rate of more than 30 percent annually in the next few years.

The potential for cultural consumption is also rising. In the first three quarters of 2016, the country's box office reached 33.3 billion yuan.

Statistics show that during the first nine months, the total retail sales of consumer products increased by 10.4 percent, from a year earlier. The contribution of consumption to GDP growth was 71 percent, up 13.3 percentage points year-on-year.