Pedestrians bustle around the Causeway Bay retail hub in Hong Kong on Friday. Photo: Li Qiaoyi/GT

Hong Kong's consumption rebounded in April after two months of declines, and new issuance of consumption vouchers in the summer is expected to further boost spending in this traditional golden consumption period, Paul Chan Mo-po, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), wrote on his official blog on Sunday.

Retail sales in the HKSAR rose 11.7 percent year-on-year to HK$30.2 billion ($3.85 billion) after a 13.8 percent drop in March, ending a two-month decline, as the major international commercial hub emerged from its fifth wave of COVID-19.

Sales of jewelry, watches and luxury gifts rose 13.9 percent year-on-year in April, after a 36.8 percent drop in March. The decline in apparel sales narrowed to 0.3 percent in April from 39.4 percent in March. Sales of footwear and other accessories increased by 13.2 percent, while sales of department stores rose 18.5 percent.

In the latest move to shore up consumption, the HKSAR will launch a second round of vouchers this summer, consisting of HK$5,000 per person, Chan said.

More than 6.3 million HKSAR residents received the first half of this year's consumption vouchers worth HK$5,000 in April.

"It is expected that the new issuance of vouchers will have a greater leverage effect to boost consumption," Chan said.

Lin Jiang, a professor of economics at Sun Yat-sen University, told the Global Times on Sunday that Hong Kong's retail sector will see an obvious recovery with the government's aid in the latter half of 2022.

"Footfalls in Hong Kong's major shopping venues of Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay obviously recovered recently, to about 70-80 percent of the pre-COVID-19 levels," Lin noted. 

He said that the recovery in retail sales reflected pent-up desire to spend, along with eased COVID-19 restrictions, adding that consumption vouchers and other government measures also lent support.

Despite the impact of COVID-19 earlier this year, Hong Kong's online sales and digital payments have been a bright spot. Online retail sales surged 34.8 percent year-on-year in April in value after a revised 31.2 percent rise in March.

Hong Kong's retail industry and luxury goods industry have also stopped falling after experiencing declines in 2020.

According to Wharf Properties, its high-end shopping mall, Harbour City, saw a pick-up in rental rates in 2021. The revenue decline of Times Square in Causeway Bay narrowed to 11 percent in 2021 from a 22 percent drop in 2020.

The Hong Kong Retail Management Association said last month that business of their most members have picked up in April, with outlets selling health and beauty products, watches and jewelry, furniture and home appliances expecting growth of 20 percent to 60 percent.