Coupons spur 1.6b-yuan consumption on May Day holiday in Xiamen

The coastal city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province issued more than 100 million yuan ($14 million) in coupons over the five-day May Day holiday in an effort to stimulate consumption and offset some of the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Statistics from the municipal bureau of commerce show that the consumption coupons are expected to spur consumer spending of 1.6 billion yuan during the holiday.

The consumption coupons covered dozens of local living services including catering, leisure and entertainment, the beauty industry, hotels, local scenic spots and cultural entertainment.

Additionally, many online platforms including Alipay, Meituan, Suning and JD, launched online shopping activities such as livestreaming broadcasts and cloud purchasing services to boost consumption and get life and business back to normal.

The latest statistics show that Xiamen's online retail revenue witnessed an increase of 11.2 percent year-on-year during the holiday.

Industry insiders said that the development of new business forms such as cloud supermarkets, cloud entertainment and cloud education will encourage merchants to offer consumers an innovative and effective solution to boost consumption in a sustainable manner.