China to boost information consumption

China has to step up its effort to boost domestic information consumption and make the sector a new driver for economic growth, according to a State Council guidance issued on Aug 14.

Promoting information consumption, a field that involves e-commerce business, the Internet and cloud computing technology, can effectively drive demand, create new sources of economic growth and help upgrade consumption, said the guidance.

China aims to boost public and household spending on the IT industry by more than 20 percent annually through 2015, the document said. By that time, the nation's information consumption volume is expected to exceed 3.2 trillion yuan ($522 billion), driving new output in related industries of 1.2 trillion yuan.

The country's e-commerce sector is expected to experience rapid growth as well. By 2015, the transaction volume on China's e-commerce platforms is targeted to be 18 trillion yuan, of which 3 trillion yuan is expected to come from online retail transactions.

The guidance also calls for significant improvement in the country's information infrastructure. By 2015, the broadband access speed in Chinese city households should reach 20 Mbps, and rural households are expected to have a broadband speed of 4 Mbps.