Recently, the General Office of Sichuan Provincial People's Government issued the Implementation Plan on Promoting the Consumption System and Mechanism of Sichuan Province, further relaxing market entry rules in seven major service consumption fields of tourism, culture, sports, health, pension, housekeeping, and education and training.

According to a relevant head of Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, Sichuan Province took the action as a response to the 2018-2020 Implementation Plan on Promoting the Consumption System and Mechanism released by the General Office of the State Council. Through introducing private capital into service consumption fields, this document aims to break down barriers in these fields so as to deepen the reform and enhance the international competitiveness of the service industry.

In the tourism field, the development of the hotel industry with a specific focus on hotels and guesthouses designed for cultural tourism shall be encouraged, and the consumption market for nautical tourism shall be cultivated and developed.

In the culture field, market players shall be fostered and strengthened, the negative list of market access shall be fully implemented, social forces shall be encouraged to participate in cultural construction, purchasing public cultural services by government departments shall be promoted, and the development of private cultural enterprises shall be vigorously supported.

In the sports field, social capital shall be introduced to host or organize sports events, the application and utilization of various modes such as Public-Private Partnership, public construction and private operation, and private running with public support in the construction and operation of stadiums and facilities shall be promoted, and social capital shall be guided to invest in the development of the sports industry through setting up or investing in sports event operation companies.

In the health field, support shall be provided for privately-run medical institutions and no planning restrictions shall be imposed on the number and layout of privately-run medical institutions in a region.

In the pension field, licensing for the establishment of pension institutions shall be canceled, social capital shall be encouraged to participate in the reform of public pension institutions throughinvestment and shareholding, acquisition, mandatory administration, public construction and private operationand other means,and social forces shall be encouraged to set up pension institutions through franchising, purchasing services by government departments, Public-Private Partnership and other means.

In the housekeeping field, the construction of demonstration areas for housekeeping servicesshall be explored, demonstration enterprises for housekeeping services shall be cultivated, the full coverage of the community pension services shall be promoted, qualified vocational colleges shall be supported inopening majors related to housekeeping, and medium- and high-end housekeeping professionals shall be cultivated.

In the education and training field, theRegulations on Implementing theLaw on the Promotion Of Non-public Schools ofSichuan Provinceshall be revised, and social forces shall be supported in setting up private vocational colleges in forms of sole proprietorship, joint venture, partnership, and joint stock system through tax relief, service purchase and comprehensive awards and subsidies in accordance with the law.

Moreover, it is also put forward in the Plan to accelerate the construction of product and service standards in key areas and build brands with Sichuan characteristics with modern service and tourism industries as the focus, in a bid to cultivate and develop more than 100 "Sichuan service" brands with great popularity. Meanwhile pace should be picked up in the cultivation of trademark brands for small and medium-sized enterprises in an effort to cultivate 1,000 "small and fine", "small and excellent" and "small and special" trademark brands.