Shanghai doling out 1b yuan digital vouchers to boost consumption

Shanghai is doling out digital consumption vouchers worth 1 billion yuan (US$147.5 million) over the coming months to boost consumption and support economic recovery.

The vouchers will be distributed in three batches between late August and late November, which will cover several major festivals and holidays such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, the National Day holiday and the Singles Day shopping festival, with a total financial input of 1 billion yuan.

For each round, every consumer who is over 18 years old in Shanghai can sign up on three major online payment platforms, namely Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay, to draw straws for the vouchers, Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, said.

The registration time for the first round is from August 20 to 22, and vouchers worth 100 yuan will be sent out to each winner on August 26, and they are valid for 20 days.

According to the commission, the city is to pour in 200 million yuan for the first batch of vouchers, 500 million yuan for the second round and 300 million yuan for the third.

These e-vouchers can be used at online and offline merchants participating in the campaign, covering the retail, catering and tourism industries, and can overlap with other discounts and coupons offered by merchants and e-commerce platforms.