Zhejiang stimulates economy during holiday

During the recent weeklong Spring Festival holiday, the consumer market continued to pick up speed in Zhejiang province.

According to the provincial Department of Commerce, 440 key commercial and trade companies saw revenues increase over the period by 6 percent year-on-year and by 64.7 percent compared with 2020. Business along 29 pedestrian-only shopping streets during the period expanded by about 52 percent.

Among the factors believed to be contributing to the improved consumption is Zhejiang's consistent push to stimulate consumer spending through the Zheli Lai Xiaofei, or "shopping in Zhejiang" campaign — a drive launched in 2019 to encourage governments at different levels to hold promotional events in major commercial complexes and shopping malls throughout the year.

In the past few weeks, some 210 such shopping fairs have been hosted to welcome the Year of the Rabbit in Zhejiang. In Jiaxing, for example, some 30,000 residents thronged a shopping festival between Jan 13 and 15, spending over 20 million yuan ($2.96 million).

In the government work report delivered at the annual session of the Zhejiang People's Congress on Jan 12, Wang Hao, the provincial governor, vowed to further burnish the "shopping in Zhejiang" brand and to achieve 4.5 percent growth in total retail sales of consumer goods this year.

According to the Commerce Department, total retail sales of consumer goods in Zhejiang exceeded 3 trillion yuan as of the end of 2022, up 4.3 percent year-on-year.