Shanghai shopping festival spurs spending, tourism

Folks get out and about spending in Shanghai during the recent May Day holiday. [Photo/WeChat account: scofcom]

Shanghai's annual international shopping season and the fourth Shanghai Double Five Shopping Festival kicked off on April 29, boosting retail spending and tourism during the five-day May Day holiday.

According to the Consumer Market Big Data Laboratory (Shanghai), the city's on-site retail payments hit 34.36 billion yuan ($4.97 billion) from April 28 to May 2, while online spending racked up 24.58 billion yuan.

The catering industry generated spending of 6.26 billion yuan, up 70 percent year-on-year and it gained 62.8 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

The Double Five Shopping Festival is part of Shanghai's annual shopping promotions program that covers major themed consumption seasons linked to key exhibitions, events and performances throughout the year.

This year's festival will see a slew of promotions, discounts, as well as consumption coupons offered by shopping malls, enterprises and financial organizations – both online and offline.

The festival, founded in May 2020, aims to be a benchmark event for Shanghai and a key platform for its development as an international retailing magnet, according to local officials.