China has started a series of campaigns in May to boost consumer spending nationwide, as the retail sector continues to rebound from cautious spending caused by COVID-19.

  Thirteen hundred themed activities, ranging from new product debuts to online-to-offline discounts, will be held in May and June under the 2021 National Consumption Promotion Month.

  In an unveiling ceremony in Shanghai on May 1, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said the event aims to "further stimulate market vitality, unleash consumption potential and better serve to build a new development pattern".

  China's retail sales surged 34.2 percent year-on-year in March. More significantly, that number jumped nearly 13 percent compared with that of March 2019, which was before the pandemic.

  In the first two days of the five-day International Workers' Day vacation, which ended Wednesday, transactions via China UnionPay, the nation's largest card processor, jumped 6.9 percent from that of 2019 to reach 754.3 billion yuan.

  The string of measures came just in time for the five-day holiday, which marks the first long period in which consumers have been able to enjoy travel and many leisure activities since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, said Jason Yu, general manager of consultancy Kantar Worldpanel China.

  Source: China Daily