China will give more money to the tourism and catering industries that have been hurt by COVID.

China will give more money to small and private businesses in the tourism and food service industries, which were hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic. This was announced in a statement from the country’s banking and insurance regulator on Tuesday.

China’s anti-virus rules, which shut down many restaurants and made it harder for tourists to travel, hurt the contact-heavy services sector the most.

On Monday, the National Health Commission said that China would no longer require inbound travellers to go through quarantine starting on January 8. On Tuesday, some people went to travel sites to get ready for the borders to open again.

In the statement, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said, “The recovery and growth of consumption will be a top priority.”

The CBIRC said that people will be encouraged to buy big-ticket items like green cars and green home appliances.

The regulator also stated that China will do more to assist private businesses and investments with financial assistance.

Retail sales, which are a key indicator of consumer spending, fell 5.9% in November because the services sector as a whole was weak. This was the biggest drop since May, when Shanghai was closed to business.

After the loosening of strict COVID-related restrictions led to a rise in infections, policymakers have made plans to boost domestic consumption and investment.

The property market has been weak for a long time, so the CBIRC promised to meet reasonable financing needs and improve the balance sheets of leading developers.

According to a statement from the CBIRC, the regulator will also take steps to prevent the quality of credit assets from getting worse and will push banks to get rid of more bad loans.