Recently, MOFCOM, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, issued an action plan to promote smart home consumption (hereinafter referred to as the “action plan”). The head of the Department of Consumption Promotion of MOFCOM provided an interpretation of the relevant contents of the action plan.

I. Background

Home consumption is large in scale, wide in scope, and has a long industrial chain. It is an important part of household consumption and a key area for combining efforts to improve people’s livelihoods with efforts to boost consumption. In recent years, with the accelerated iteration and upgrading of technology and the rising demand for a higher quality of life, smart homes have developed rapidly, and their market penetration has continued to increase.

The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for national economic and social development explicitly proposes enriching smart home scenarios, promoting the application of new smart products, formulating interoperability standards for smart homes, and supporting elderly-friendly renovation and intelligent upgrading of old housing. To implement the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adapt to the consumption needs of different groups and expand high-quality supply, MOFCOM, together with relevant departments, carried out special research, organized seminars to extensively solicit opinions and suggestions, and conducted field surveys in multiple locations. On this basis, the action plan was drafted and recently issued.

II. Main Contents

The action plan adheres to both goal-oriented and problem-oriented approaches. Targeting the growth drivers and existing bottlenecks in smart home consumption, it puts forward seven measures, including expanding the supply of high-quality smart home products, improving the standards system for smart homes, and optimizing community convenience services. It highlights the following four aspects:

First, it emphasizes coordinated efforts on both the supply and demand sides. The action plan proposes encouraging manufacturers to strengthen R&D of smart home products; supporting home furnishing stores, shopping malls and others in setting up smart home experience centers, whole-home smart and digital home demonstration rooms; and guiding financial institutions to increase loan support for smart home consumption and actively support consumers in purchasing smart home-related products.

Second, it aims to create a diversified and integrated ecosystem. In response to bottlenecks in smart home interoperability, the action plan specifies improving the intelligence grading and evaluation standards system for smart home products, accelerating the formulation and implementation of mandatory national standards such as those for smart home interoperability, and expediting the integrated development of whole-home smart solutions.

Third, it provides targeted services for different groups of consumers. In response to the differentiated needs of consumers, the action plan specifies accelerating the cultivation of a number of large home decoration enterprises and platforms, launching personalized and diversified decoration packages, and vigorously developing customized, order-based and appointment-based services; and guiding enterprises to adopt elderly-friendly design and enrich the supply of elderly-friendly smart homes.

Fourth, it ensures whole-chain convenience services. Focusing on the inconvenience of supporting services in the home furnishing and decoration sector, the action plan proposes guiding local authorities to set up recycling points for used home furnishings in a well-conceived and reasonable manner, encouraging enterprises to provide services such as “delivering new products while collecting old ones” and “Internet + recycling”; and supporting the establishment of comprehensive home renewal service stations in qualified subdistricts and communities to integrate various services that are convenient and beneficial to the people.

Going forward, MOFCOM will work with relevant departments to implement various measures thoroughly and meticulously, promote the early and effective implementation of relevant policies, and bring more smart home products into ordinary households to better meet the people’s needs for a better life. (Released on September 14)