Shanghai to issue consumption vouchers for service sector

Shanghai will allocate 500 million yuan (about 69.73 million U.S. dollars) from its municipal budget to issue vouchers for the service sector, local officials announced at a press briefing on Monday.

As part of an effort to boost spending, the vouchers will mainly support catering, tourism, cinemas and sports. The funds will be distributed as follows: 360 million yuan for catering, 90 million yuan for tourism, 30 million yuan for cinemas, and 20 million yuan for sports.

Consumers can register for the lottery to receive catering and tourism vouchers starting Feb. 22. All vouchers will be valid for redemption starting from March 1 and will be fully distributed by the end of June.

According to Zhu Min, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, spending in the service sector is key to enhancing and upgrading Shanghai's consumption market, as well as driving commodity consumption.

In 2024, Shanghai issued 500 million yuan worth of vouchers for the catering, accommodation, cinema and sports sectors.