China's cabinet promotes online-offline business links

China's State Council, or cabinet, has issued guidelines encouraging deeper links between online businesses and bricks-and-mortar stores, pledging to cut red tape and promote tax and financial support to make it happen. The guidelines, dated Sept. 18 and published late on Tuesday, were cast as a way to spur consumption and economic activity. "Online-offline interaction has become one of the most dynamic forms of economic activity.