Zhang Yu, Chen Yuying

JeniZhang13@163.com

THE city’s annual three-month shopping festival kicked off at Shenzhen MixC Qianhai on Thursday, with a wide range of promotional campaigns and activities for consumers to indulge in a shopping frenzy.

Spanning from August to October, with a different theme each month, various promotional activities covering consumer electronics, culture and sports, parent-child spending, fashion, food and beverages, exhibitions, night economy, e-commerce and automobile consumption, will be held across the city.

During the consumer electronics shopping festival in August, various brands, financial institutions and e-commerce platforms will offer subsidies for the purchase of consumer electronics.

The city’s key tourist attractions will also launch summer vacation tourism routes and discounted packages to encourage citizens to go outdoors and enjoy sports.

Meanwhile, several consumption activities featuring Hong Kong elements will be held at Dongmen Pedestrian Street in Luohu District and the “One Night in Hong Kong” night market in Yantian District.

September will feature monthlong consumption activities oriented towards fashion, food and beverages, exhibitions and night economy.

Foodies can satisfy their taste buds in activities such as  Shenzhen Coffee Festival, Nanshan Coffee Festival, a tea drink cultural festival and a seafood festival. The city will release the 2023 Shenzhen Food Map, a city-level gourmet culture menu.

In addition to six shows and expos for exhibitiongoers, a number of themed activities will be organized to light up citizens’ night life.

In October, various shopping malls, businesses and e-commerce platforms will issue ready-to-use coupons for consumers to partake in the shopping spree.

Subsidies at the municipal and district levels will also be given to boost the consumption of new cars and new energy vehicles. Additionally, Shenzhen Duty Free Group will issue consumption coupons worth 180 million yuan (US$24.97 million) to consumers.

At Thursday’s launch ceremony of the festival, awards were given to the city’s first batch of demonstration characteristic commercial areas (pedestrian streets) and night economy demonstration blocks.

The awardees included Futian CBD, Bao’an Center and Houhai commercial areas, and OCT Harbor and UpperHills night economy demonstration blocks.

The city plans to build over 10 characteristic commercial areas (pedestrian streets) and night economy demonstration blocks within five years.

The local finance authority will give an award of up to 10 million yuan to each of the projects that meet the standards, according to the city’s commerce bureau.