Coupons of 3.4 billion yuan are doled out to help accelerate domestic consumption in China: report
Consumers select vegetables at a supermarket in Handan City, north China's Hebei Province. File photo: Xinhua
Over 3.4 billion yuan ($502.2 million) worth of consumption coupons were distributed to residents of 20 Chinese provinces and municipalities in the first quarter of 2022, as part of a nationwide bid to support economic growth amid low mobility caused by COVID-19 outbreaks.
The Commerce Bureau of Shenzhen revealed on Thursday that a new round of coupon distribution is underway. The city vowed on April 28 to distribute coupons worth 500 million yuan to its residents, in order to support the recovery of the local economy.
As one of the companies participating in the distribution, Chinese food delivery platform Meituan said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Thursday that 530,000 of a total of 1.33 million coupons had been used as of midnight on May 9, helping to sell 61 million yuan worth of goods.
Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com also participated in the distribution in Shenzhen, as well as in Shenyang in Northeast China's Liaoning Province and Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, responding to the State Council's call to help local economies recover, the company told the Global Times on Thursday.
China's State Council issued an administrative guidance for stimulating domestic consumption on April 20, including new support policies for small and mid-sized enterprises to help them overcome coronavirus-induced economic difficulties.
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesperson Shu Jueting said at a regular press conference on Thursday that the ministry will follow guidance issued by the State Council to propel domestic consumption and host campaigns to boost consumer spending.
The MOFCOM said earlier that the multiplier effect of consumption coupons in some Chinese cities reached 11 times in 2020.
As of May 5, local authorities in Mianyang, Southwest China's Sichuan Province had doled out 1.41 million yuan of consumption coupons, which helped promote about 20 times that amount in actual retail sales with an aggregate value of 17 million yuan, according to the local commerce bureau.
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