As the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced Wednesday that the central government is planning to launch a new series of policies aiming to boost domestic consumption, experts said yesterday that industries related to energy-saving and environmental protection will be the main beneficiaries.

MOFCOM is partnering with the Ministry of Finance and the central bank in studying new policies to encourage domestic spending. The framework for the new policies has been established, Shen Danyang, spokesman for MOFCOM, said at a press conference Wednesday.

The government will give more financial support to environmental protection sectors related to people’s livelihoods, such as subsidies for the use of solar energy products at home.

"The outlook for domestic consumption is not optimistic in 2012. New policies are badly needed,” Cao Guobin, an economy expert and professor at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times yesterday.

"Energy-saving and environmental protection industries are a key sector for China’s development in the 12th Five-Year Plan. Combining the industry with social consumption and providing subsidies will create a huge potential market for the industry, and boost domestic spending,” Yao Yaping, associate of the Beijing-based investment company Hina Group, told the Global Times yesterday.

Consumption-related energy-saving and environmental protection industries, like new energy vehicles, LED lighting devices and solar water heaters, will benefit from the policies.

Statistics showed that the domestic retailing volume hit 18.12 trillion yuan ($2.87 trillion) in 2011, increasing by 11.6 percent considering inflation. MOFCOM’s monitoring also showed that retail sales revenue for 3,000 key retail enterprises increased by 15.9 percent in 2011, a growth rate 2.2 percent lower than that seen in 2010.

"The new policies will upgrade previous policies subsidizing the replacement of electronic and home appliances in rural areas that ended in 2011,” Tian Zhengyi, an analyst at market research company Zhengwang Consulting, told the Global Times yesterday.

The previous consumption-boosting policies did show strong results in the past. Statistics from MOFCOM indicate that a total of 218 million home appliances were sold in China through the rural subsidy program from 2009 to 2011, for a total revenue of 505.9 billion yuan.

However, as the situation in international markets worsens, and consumers spend less on home appliances, the government should broaden the spectrum of products that receive assistance, Tian noted.