E-commerce stimulates Xi'an's consumption

This year, Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, has actively connected with major e-commerce platforms to seize the golden season of consumption, and carried out a series of e-commerce activities.

By the end of May this year, the city's e-commerce transaction volume reached 301.61 billion yuan ($41.72 billion), a year-on-year increase of 22.69 percent.

Promotional events have become an essential tool for e-commerce sales. Earlier this year, the online Lunar New Year Shopping Festival in Xi'an achieved total online retail sales of 10.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.35 percent.

The "618" shopping festival has also brought a sales surge for many businesses.

Coupon distribution by online platforms also boosted sales. Alipay distributed 50 million yuan of consumer coupons for the Spring Festival, and Ele.me distributed 10 million yuan of Xi'an consumer coupons in May. The platform enterprises have distributed over 110 million yuan of consumer coupons at the municipal level.

In addition, the stimulating effect of live streaming on consumption has become evident. This year, the commerce departments in the city have supported industry associations and professional organizations to continue conducting live-streaming activities to help rural villages and businesses.

As of the end of 2022, the city had 126,800 e-commerce companies, including 12,600 live-streaming companies. The number of e-commerce and live-streaming companies ranked among the top in the country.