The Chinese financial hub of Shanghai is using the digital renminbi to issue consumer vouchers for the purpose of reinvigorating a local economy still reeling from the impacts of renewed Covid lockdowns.
According to the “Shanghai Work Plan for Issuing Digital Consumer Vouchers” (上海市发放电子消费券工作方案), the third round of the “Love to Buy Shanghai” (爱购上海) campaign was held from 19 to 21 November, and saw the issuance of special consumption vouchers to local residents of the city by means of the digital renminbi.
The Plan said that the third round of the campaign saw “active and enthusiastic participation from municipal residents,” and that the municipal government has already agreed to a new round of digital consumer vouchers in order to “revive the Shanghai economy and invigorate consumer confidence.”
The Shanghai municipal government invested a total of 1 billion yuan in local government funds to support the first three rounds of the “Love to Buy Shanghai” digital consumer voucher campaign. Local residents who won consumer vouchers by participating in campaign activities can then use them for purchases at a range of online and offline, as well as domestic and foreign, retailers and restaurant brands. These include Decathlon, Hema, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Carrefour and Ctrip.
According to state-owned media the consumer vouchers campaign helped to spur an increase in sales for local retailers, particularly during the peak holiday and consumption period that coincides with China’s October National Holiday.
