Creative strategies to boost spending

Shanghai will make continued efforts this year to further improve the consumption environment, come up with more supply-side innovation, enrich consumption scenarios and provide more incentives to consumers to further boost spending, which is integral to sustained economic growth, said officials of the municipal government during a news briefing on Friday.

Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said that more precise and effective policies will be rolled out to boost service consumption and new types of consumption.

The debut, silver, nighttime and ticket office economies should seek substantial development to boost consumption demand, said Liu.

Shopping carnivals will play an important role to boost consumption, according to Liu. "Shanghai Summer" International Consumption Season, which was inaugurated last year, will take place for the second time this summer to boost inbound consumption. Consumption activities related to the low-altitude economy will be held during this year's "Shanghai Summer", she said.

Pudong New Area in eastern Shanghai is holding a shopping carnival from Jan 24 to Feb 28. During this period, consumers with a single invoice of 1,000 yuan ($138) or more for personal offline consumption made within the area can participate in lucky draws with winners getting to use an EV produced by the local carmaker IM Motors free for a year.

Two women living in Pudong were the first two to win the lucky draw, the Pudong government said on Friday.

The lucky draw helped the number of consumers rise by 8.7 percent year-on-year to 13 million at the 15 monitored shopping malls in Pudong.

Efforts will be made to improve foreign tourists' shopping experiences in the city, according to Ma Yinghui, deputy director of the Shanghai municipal government's foreign affairs office.

International Services Shanghai, a multilingual portal launched by the municipal government in early 2024, will update the latest service information and activity agenda during the major shopping carnivals such as "Shanghai Summer" and the annually-held May 5 Shopping Festival. The portal will explicitly explain consumption policies such as tax refund, she said.

The International Experience Officer program which was launched by the local foreign affairs office last year will help major business districts and companies to further improve services provided to foreign tourists such as online shopping, e-maps, food delivery, courier services and online ticket booking for movies and exhibitions. About 100 foreigners from 37 countries have joined the program, said Ma.

Soliciting new foreign investment and boosting consumption will be better coordinated, said Qiu Wei, chief engineer of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization.

The local government will hold a promotion in the Japanese city of Osaka in late May, the first overseas promotion of its kind by the Chinese city. By facilitating the outbound reach of Chinese domestic brands, the event will help to demonstrate the charm of Shanghai brands while seeking more cooperation opportunities, she said.

Consumption on information services will be another focal point. By organizing activities under such themes, the local government aims to drive consumption of online games, digital gadgets, as well as online audio and video services, by integrating new technologies such as metaverse, AI large language models and smart chips, according to Qiu.

The Shanghai Legoland Resort is scheduled to open this summer, according to Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism.

Apart from helping to hold key games such as 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix and 2025 World Rowing Championships, the local administration of sports will issue 60 million yuan of sports consumption coupons, said the administration's deputy head Xu Qi.