Promotions, coupons on offer to boost buying

Many places in China have rolled out packages of measures recently to boost a consumption recovery, covering areas such as catering, tourism and auto purchases.

Eight government departments in Beijing jointly announced the measures, which include the issuance of restaurant coupons worth 100 million yuan ($14.9 million) beginning this month to promote the recovery of the country's sprawling catering sector.

The coupons are funded by the government and platform enterprises, Guo Wenjie, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, said on Thursday.

In the tourism sector, Beijing plans to issue up to 30 million yuan worth of coupons for accommodations in suburban areas, which will be valid from July to late September, said Liu Bin, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.

"We hope that people travel more often to the suburbs during summer vacation to experience local history, culture and folk customs using coupons," Liu said.

Beijing will hold more consumption-friendly activities, such as car-purchasing promotional events and food fairs to help encourage people to open their wallets.

"The measures are expected to promote the accelerated recovery of consumption and mitigate the impact of the epidemic on daily life and production," said Dai Ying, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

"We believe that measures like offering coupons will be helpful for the catering sector and the company will continue to provide high-end foods and services as well as strictly follow epidemic control and prevention measures," said Zhang Yanmei, vice-president of Xiabuxiabu Restaurant Management Co, which operates about 300 hotpot outlets in Beijing.

Many other cities adopted similar coupon programs.

For example, Shandong province will offer coupons worth 200 million yuan this month to spur demand for cars.

The coupons will be valid until the end of this month, according to a statement released online by the Shandong Department of Commerce on Wednesday.

"Automobiles take up 10 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods, which is an important sector to help spur domestic consumer demand," said Wang Hongping, deputy head of the department.

For example, people who buy a new-energy car in the province can use a coupon ranging from 3,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan, depending on the price of the vehicle.

Last month, the province issued 200 million yuan in coupons to spur home appliance consumption such as televisions, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. They are valid until the end of July.

Half of the coupons are funded by the province and the other half are funded by 16 cities in the province, the statement said.

Yao Yuxin contributed to this story.