The commerce bureau of Beijing's Dongcheng District has released a draft plan outlining its strategy to upgrade consumer experiences through eight major consumption scenarios, five thematic matrices, and seven categories of specialized offerings. The proposal, now open for public comment, outlines ambitious goals to establish the district as a demonstration zone for international consumption center cities by 2030, emphasizing its unique cultural appeal, innovative business models, and global resource allocation capabilities.
The blueprint charts a clear course for consumption upgrades over the next five years, positioning cultural spending as the primary driver. With a focus on integrating culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions, the plan targets four key demographics: key clientele, premium visitors, younger audiences, and regular customers. This involves creating eight distinct consumption scenarios, developing five high-level thematic consumption matrices, and expanding seven types of specialized offerings, with a strong emphasis on revitalizing commercial districts and reimagining urban spaces.
Key Commercial District Revitalization
A central element of the plan is the creation of a consumption upgrade demonstration belt stretching from Qianmen through Wangfujing to Longfusi. This includes deepening the Wangfujing-Qianmen international consumption experience zone, promoting the protective renewal of the historic Qianmen area with the full opening of Xixinglong Street, and using the Qianmen East Zone's infill project to build a traditional culture consumption zone centered on time-honored brands and national trends. Major upgrades are slated for legacy retailers like the New China Children's Store, Lisheng Sports Plaza, and the Foreign Languages Bookstore, which will also host launch events for new products, fostering a cluster for international first-release brands.
The Longfusi commercial area is set for a distinctive 'Culture + Revival' transformation, strengthening its role in time-honored brand experiences, art exhibitions, and fashion releases. This will encourage synergies among exhibitions, performances, and dining to establish it as a destination for cultural consumption lifestyle. Concurrently, the Dongzhimen and Chongwenmen districts will upgrade with a focus on 'hub + experience' and 'quality + vitality' respectively. Plans also include transforming Nansincang into a mixed space for culture, dining, and exhibitions, creating a tranquil urban lifestyle hub on Jinbao Street and Hongxing Hutong, positioning Wudaoying Hutong as a hotspot for trendsetters and international visitors, and addressing homogenization at Nanluoguxiang through deeper integration of culture, commerce, and experience.
Introducing a New Map of Eight Consumption Scenarios
For the first time, the plan systematically introduces a map of eight consumption scenarios, extending beyond traditional commercial zones to include performance, digital, nighttime, park, and waterfront consumption. Leveraging the cultural assets of the Central Axis and the Grand Canal, Dongcheng will develop a 'On the Central Axis' cultural brand. This includes guiding the Palace Museum–Bell and Drum Towers section to use vacated spaces for digital heritage protection, cultural IP operations, and high-end cultural products. The Yongdingmen–Palace Museum section will see 'micro-renewals' in surrounding neighborhoods, introducing performance art, intangible cultural heritage workshops, and art exhibitions.
A coordination mechanism will link the 'Cultural Golden Triangle' of the Palace Museum, Wangfujing, and Longfusi, creating a complete ecosystem that connects cultural content, traffic generation, and consumption monetization. The plan promotes the development of theater clusters like 'Wangfujing Drama Valley' to attract premieres and first-run performances of outstanding cultural works from China and abroad, using theatrical heritage to reshape commercial landmarks. It encourages the growth of new performance spaces and the revitalization of the Guanghe Tower in Qianmen. The 'Great Drama Looks East' program will be enhanced as a comprehensive theatrical platform for creation, incubation, performance, and talent development.
Commercial complexes and merchants will be encouraged to extend operating hours and introduce light shows, nighttime performances, and instant retail. Nightlife infrastructure around the Wangfujing district will be improved, and Longfusi will develop its own nighttime consumption 'cultural IP'. Theaters and museums will be guided to extend evening hours, with new night tour routes designed to distribute visitor flow and boost nighttime economic activity. Parks like Longtan and Youth Lake are set to evolve into 'park+' mixed-use consumption spaces, while the southern moat riverbank will be transformed into a 'waterfront promenade' offering both cultural displays and leisure functions.
Focus on First-Release Economy and National Trends
The first-release economy and national trend consumption are highlighted as priorities. The plan aims to establish Dongcheng as a high ground for international first releases, attract high-profile first and flagship stores in sectors such as international luxury goods, premium cosmetics, and new energy vehicles, and use Wangfujing Street and Longfusi Cultural and Creative Park as dual hubs for a multi-tiered product launch platform. Cross-border e-commerce experience stores and bonded lifestyle outlets are planned for commercial areas, with services like online booking and offline pickup. A bonded display platform will pilot a new model for tax-bonded exhibitions and sales of cultural and creative artworks.
Efforts will be made to integrate brands embodying Beijing's and Dongcheng's cultural characteristics into tax-refund and duty-free channels to cater to international shoppers. A premium 'duty-free shopping + cultural tour' route will be developed, linking world cultural heritage sites like the Palace Museum and the Temple of Heaven. A rejuvenation project for time-honored brands will pair them with national trends and international aesthetics to create new products, open flagship stores, and host launch events. This will be coupled with intangible cultural heritage experience routes and national trend tourism products, integrated into projects in Qianmen and Longfusi to establish cultural landmarks.
Building a 30-Minute Instant Retail Service Circle
In cultivating a new digital consumption ecosystem, the plan calls for active development of new e-commerce models. One to two municipal-level livestream e-commerce bases will be built, strengthening livestreaming for Hongqiao Pearls and intangible cultural heritage, and expanding scenes within the Wangfujing and Longfusi districts. Leveraging Qianmen and the Enamel Factory, a livestream matrix for time-honored brands and intangible cultural heritage will be developed, using big data to match consumer demand while simultaneously selling products and showcasing traditional techniques. Traditional businesses will be encouraged to integrate online and offline operations, partnering with internet platforms for joint promotional activities.
A 30-minute instant retail service circle will be established, covering dining, fresh produce, medicine, and daily necessities, integrating with instant delivery platforms to improve convenience. Digital content consumption will also be fostered through enriching animation, micro-dramas, and digital performances, hosting online literature contests to cultivate IPs, and promoting the global distribution of micro-dramas and premium games. Technologies like AIGC, VR, and the metaverse will be used to create immersive digital cultural experiences, and AI will power virtual scene building and precision marketing. A creator support system will be built, encompassing data distribution, transactions, and financial services, to nurture the creator economy.
Enhancing the International Consumer Environment
The plan sets hard targets for enhancing the international consumption environment, including expanding the supply for inbound tourism, strengthening domestic and international channel partnerships, planning inbound travel routes, and boosting cultural IP promotion in overseas cities. Wangfujing, Qianmen, and Longfusi will be developed as internationally friendly commercial zones, bringing together global brands, national trend products, intangible cultural heritage items, and smart devices. The 'buy and refund immediately' service will be optimized to achieve a fully paperless tax refund process, the network for departure tax refunds will be expanded with more eligible items like time-honored products, and specialty souvenirs will be developed for inbound visitors.
The plan also leverages pilot policies for building an international consumption environment, including the 240-hour visa-free transit policy and optimizing group visa services for foreigners. Efforts will be made to attract international cultural and sporting events, with supporting facilities like international schools, clinics, and multilingual service centers. To improve overall convenience for inbound consumers, the district will complete bilingual signage upgrades, enhance multilingual translation services, and increase foreign card payment coverage in key commercial areas.
Finally, the plan systematically outlines provisions for emerging consumption sectors such as the silver economy, sports events, and household services. This includes cultivating consumption scenarios for ice and snow sports and promoting the cross-sector integration of traditional Chinese medicine with tourism and new forms of consumption.
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