Measures taken to get life, business back to normal

As the novel coronavirus continues to abate across China, local governments are offering support to boost consumption and get life and business back to normal.

The Shanghai government has formulated a package of measures to boost consumer confidence and stimulate consumption by launching innovative businesses.

"The COVID-19 epidemic has caused postponements or even cancellations of orders among Chinese export-oriented enterprises. Our local government is now helping these companies exploit domestic e-commerce markets to ease business pressure amid business adjustment," said Hua Yuan, director of the city's commerce commission.

Qi Xiaozhai, director of the Shanghai Commercial Economic Research Center, said the promotion of consumption is supported by both business supply and consumer demand.

"The resumption of activity will bring various businesses back with new supply. Meanwhile, for ordinary consumers who have stayed at home since the outbreak of the contagion, we also expect them to spend money when dining out, shopping and touring around－at least in the city," Qi said.

Consumption plays a key role in China's economic growth, particularly in Shanghai, where retail sales of consumer goods have topped the nation over the past three years. In 2019, the city's retail sales revenue from consumer products amounted to 1.35 trillion yuan ($191 billion).

Major Chinese e-commerce retailers such as Alibaba, Pinduoduo and Suning have bolstered efforts to strengthen the consumer market, offering multi-billion yuan coupons and subsidies for local consumers via various apps.

As of April 26, a total of 11.5 billion yuan worth of consumption coupons had been issued in 25 provinces and municipalities, with 13 of them granting vouchers worth more than 100 million yuan each, according to Zhong Ruiyi, senior director of retail service in East China with Colliers International.

Qi said tourism has yet to fully rebound, so local governments are focusing on encouraging other types of consumption.

"Although retail activities declined in the first quarter due to the epidemic, our survey showed the market remains positive toward Chinese people's consumption ability and brand development outlook," Zhong said.

He Xinghua, vice-president of Red Star Macalline Group Corp Ltd, said the home decoration sector is also seeing a rise of opportunities during the isolation period, including growing demand for kitchen products because people cook more frequently now.

"Unlike buying clothes or dining out, demand for home improvement is solid, but has been suppressed in the past few months because of the epidemic," He said.

Japanese convenience store chain Lawson recently accelerated its expansion in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region following the suspension of new-store openings due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

"We are back on track of achieving our goal of having 3,000 stores across China by 2020," said Zhang Sheng, vice-president of Lawson (China) Holdings Inc and general manager of Shanghai Lawson Inc.

Yin Meiying, Party secretary of Huimin county, Binzhou, Shandong province, is one of the officials in the coastal province using livestreaming to help farmers sell products. Yin made a two-hour livestreaming broadcast to promote local products on March 3, through which she sold 10,000 kilograms of mushrooms and pears.

"The e-commerce platforms and livestreaming offer us an innovative and effective solution to help farmers increase their sales and income," Yin said.

Likewise, through state-of-the-art technologies of AR, VR and 5G, the Guizhou provincial government is aiming to unleash pent-up consumer demand with 12 key local products, as the province is in its final stages of shaking off poverty. Guizhou specialties such as tea, medicinal herbs, free-range pigs, white radishes and mushrooms are just a few of the products being promoted.

China's online retail revenue reached 2.2 trillion yuan in the first quarter, down 0.8 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Products sold online accounted for 23.6 percent of China's total consumer product consumption, 5.4 percentage points higher from the same period of last year.

Hua said the unprecedented long-term at-home isolation due to COVID-19 raised Shanghai's online shopping transaction volume by 19.1 percent in the first quarter, and the municipal government looks to further innovate the virtual shopping experience by accelerating technological development.

Zhao Ruixue in Jinan and Yang Jun in Guiyang contributed to this story.