夜經濟 (yè jīngjì): Night economy

As a new field for exploring consumption potential and promoting consumption upgrading, many cities are taking measures to boost the night economy.

The night economy refers to the various kinds of consumption available at night, which are predominantly services such as food, entertainment, tourism and transportation services. There is a growing night economy as it is one of the modern urban economic forms catering to high-level consumption demand, and it is expected to become a growth pole of the urban economy.

According to statistics jointly issued by the China Tourism Academy and online consumption service provider Meituandianping, in 2018 the trade volume for catering services at night increased 47 percent year-on-year, which is 2 percentage points faster than the growth rate of catering consumption during the daytime.

In recent years, many major cities have taken effective measures to support and promote the night economy. For instance, the so-called sleepless city, Shanghai, recently issued guidelines to promote the development of the city's night economy, which advance building night life areas. Huangpu and Yangpu districts have established "night life CEOs" to promote and manage night life within the regions. Haidian district in Beijing is also providing favorable policies and funds to support the night economy as part of its three-year consumption upgrading action plan (2019-21). And Tianjin's municipal night economy demonstration districts officially opened on May 15.