China to boost retail innovation as offline retail shifts toward quality, differentiation

On June 25, the Ministry of Commerce announced plans to issue guidelines to accelerate the innovative development of the retail industry. The measures aim to strengthen industry guidance, enhance policy support, improve the market environment, summarize and promote best practices, and steadily advance the sector's transformation toward innovation and high-quality development.

The retail sector is currently under pressure. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), domestic retail sales fell by 0.1% and 0.7% year on year in April and May, respectively. In the first five months of this year, convenience stores and supermarkets recorded growth of 6.8% and 3.6%,