China unveils measures to boost 'AI plus consumption'

BEIJING, June 18 -- China's Ministry of Commerce and seven other government departments Thursday released an implementation guideline document to accelerate the development of "artificial intelligence (AI) plus consumption."

It includes 17 measures in five areas to promote deeper integration of AI with consumer markets by expanding smart product consumption, empowering services consumption and creating new consumption scenarios.

Regarding goods consumption, the document calls for increasing the supply of new AI products, upgrading consumer electronics, household appliances and home products, cultivating the smart wearable market, and promoting AI-powered robots for elderly care, companionship and daily assistance.

Addressing services consumption, it encourages wider AI application in home services, elderly care, tourism, accommodation and catering, and education, including smart elderly-care facilities, AI-enabled tourism services and smart canteens in offices, schools and hospitals.

The guidelines also stress the acceleration of smart retails, deeper integration of e-commerce with AI, improvement of smart logistics networks at county, township and village levels, and expansion of delivery coverage in remote areas.

China will also build "AI plus consumption" clusters and AI experience centers, encourage rental, sharing and trial use of AI products in public venues, and encourage local authorities to formulate subsidy policies for next-generation smart terminals and other AI-related consumer products under the consumer goods trade-in policy framework.