The Information Office of Shanghai Municipality held a municipal government press conference today (April 20). Gu Jun, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, introduced the “Measures for Accelerating the Construction of International Consumption Center City and Continuously Advancing Consumption Expansion and Quality Improvement”, which will be issued by the city in the near future, as well as the specific arrangement for the second May 5 Shopping Festival. Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Ruan Li, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Cheng Meihong, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, and Ding Bo, deputy secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, attended the press conference and answered questions from reporters.

1. General considerations for the second May 5 Shopping Festival

In order to thoroughly implement the decisions and deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to promote consumption in an all-round way, and to better enable consumption to serve as the key link and important engine in the domestic economic cycle, the Ministry of Commerce, in conjunction with relevant authorities, has decided to organize consumption promotion activities in May 2021 across 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). In accordance with the unified deployment by the Ministry of Commerce, under the strong leadership of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Government, and on top of the successful experience of the first May 5 Shopping Festival, the city will hold the second May 5 Shopping Festival around accelerating the construction of an international consumption center city and the digital transformation of commerce in Shanghai, with an aim to host a shopping festival with larger scale, better quality, updated model and improved experience.

The second May 5 Shopping Festival will resort to policies and activities as two drivers, while focusing on two major themes of the “world debut season” and “citywide discount season”. In terms of organization and planning, the city and districts will enhance collaboration, while the government and companies will work together to form regional linkage. In terms of coverage, organizers aim to fully cover local platforms, merchants, end-user products, and consumer groups. In terms of time span, the festival will run across the second quarter, with warm-up activities in April, major events in May and continuous impacts in June.

2. The main contents of the policies on continuously advancing consumption expansion and quality improvement

In order to further implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand, further bolster Shanghai’s consumer market, and advance the construction of Shanghai as an international consumption center city, the city will soon issue the “Measures for Accelerating the Construction of International Consumption Center City and Continuously Advancing Consumption Expansion and Quality Improvement” and propose 12 measures on four aspects, namely improving the functional positioning of the May 5 Shopping Festival, promoting consumption upgrades, deepening digital transformation, and strengthening the support system.

First, focus on improving the functional positioning of the May 5 Shopping Festival. The city will leverage all resources and efforts to develop the May 5 Shopping Festival into an important functional platform and iconic event to contribute to Shanghai’s construction as an international consumption center city and efforts to bolster the city’s Four Brands. A batch of iconic activities such as June 6 Nightlife Festival and Global New Product Debut Season will be launched.

Second, focus on vigorously promoting consumption upgrades by proposing five measures. The city will expand high-end consumption, propose to support brand companies to open more high-end flagship stores and experience stores in Shanghai, and optimize the customs clearance and commodity inspection procedures for imported consumer goods. It will create a place for global new product debut, and propose to support the first store, product debut, and brand debut that meets the standards. The city will enhance the influence of local brands, and propose to build a local brand promotion platform, providing support to brand building activities of local well-known brands that meet certain standards. The city will promote bulk consumption, propose a new round of subsidies for people who trade in their old cars to buy new ones, and encourage enterprises to subsidize residents who eliminate old home appliances and furniture and purchase green and smart home appliances and environmentally friendly furniture. The city will seek synergies in commerce, travel, culture and sports consumption, integrate information on major events related to business, travel, culture and sports, and create consumption scenarios and demonstration projects that deeply integrate business, travel, culture and sports.

Third, focus on deepening the digital transformation of the consumption sector by proposing three measures. The city will comprehensively advance the digital transformation of business, propose to support the creation of demonstration zones, demonstration enterprises and demonstration projects for the digital transformation of physical businesses, and explore the construction of public information service platforms in business circles. It will support livestreaming e-commerce platforms to hold special events, and conduct the trials of digital RMB. The city will facilitate digitization of life services, propose to promote new consumption formats and models such as online service consumption, contactless delivery, and unmanned retail, while supporting the digital transformation of life services such as breakfast projects and housekeeping. It will expand the import of consumer goods through cross-border e-commerce, propose improved supporting policies, expand the import of high-quality consumer goods, and support the opening of cross-border e-commerce offline experience stores.

Fourth, focus on strengthening the consumption support system by proposing three measures. The city will develop modern commerce and trade circulation infrastructure, unveil guidelines for the commerce and logistics infrastructure system, and accelerate construction of cold chain logistics facilities for end users. The city will boost financial support and propose to encourage financial institutions to increase credit support for residents to purchase green and smart products. The city will continue to optimize the consumption environment, propose to deepen the implementation of the Chief Quality Officer system, and promote the cross-region return and exchange services in the Yangtze River Delta.

3. About the arrangement of the second May 5 Shopping Festival

The May 5 Shopping Festival features a “2+10+16+X” event framework, including two major ceremonies, namely the launch ceremony and the results release ceremony; events in 10 major sectors, including three major economic types (debut, brand, and night life economies), six consumption types (innovative, bulk, imported commodity, food & beverage, services and information), and the integration of the Yangtze River Delta; 16 district-level consumption-promoting events, with one district featuring one specific theme; and “X” themed marketing activities carried out by the city’s various market entities. Among them, the results release ceremony and the Yangtze River Delta integration section are held for the first time at this year’s shopping festival. So far, we’ve sorted out nearly 1,900 activities of various types. Below, I will introduce the events in 10 key sectors.

More than 130 activities will be launched in the debut economy sector. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce will hold the “Global New Product Debut Season”, including the “Shanghai International Beauty Festival”, “Shanghai Trendy Lifestyle Festival”, “Fashion Customization Week”, “Shanghai Popular Product Festival” and other debut events. L’Oréal will release more than 100 new products and debut three brands, launch the world’s first concept flagship store and two first brand stores in Asia. More than 220 activities will be launched in the brand economy sector. The “Time-honored Brand Carnival” will be launched, and the China Time-honored Brand Expo will be held. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization will organize the “2021 Shanghai Manufacturing Outstanding Product Exhibition”. The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Rights Protection Committee will organize an evaluation campaign of Shanghai’s characteristic souvenirs. Bailian Group will hold a large-scale shopping festival featuring 10,000 new products and livestreaming events on May 5. Bright Food Group will launch more than 100 new products of time-honored brands such as White Rabbit, which will be launched simultaneously in more than 3,000 online and offline channels. More than 30 new “Bright × Flower Expo” co-branded new products will be launched at the China Flower Expo. Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart Group will launch the world premiere of the new ‘Guochao’ products and distribute 10 million lucky bags. Huayi Group will convene a summit on the trendy China-made products. Orient International will launch a series of promotional activities for shopping.

Nearly 120 activities will be rolled out under the night-life economy sector. The June 6 Nightlife Festival will be held to promote business, travel, culture, and sports activities through online and offline interactions. A number of events in the pipeline include: “Wonderful Night at Museums” and “Busker Weekend Show” hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism; “Late Night Reading Moment” by the Shanghai Municipal Press and Publication Bureau; “Sports Night” by the Shanghai Municipal Sports Bureau; “Bar Culture Festival” by Shanghai Bar Professional Association; “Night Market Cultural Festival” by the city’s alliance of characteristic streets. Certain key enterprises will host events like “Sleepless Shopping Nights”. At the same time, Xiaohongshu will launch an event called “Fashion Night”, while Netease will unveil a documentary named “Nightlife Dreamer” to inject vitality into the night-life economy.

The new consumption sector will see the rollout of nearly 380 activities. “Emerging and Time-honored Brands Shopping Festival/Digital Life Festival” and “E-commerce Livestreaming Festival” will be held, and the “digital twin” commercial block of the Nanjing Road pedestrian street will be launched. The publicity department of the Communist Party of China Shanghai Municipal Committee will hold the May 5 Shopping Festival · Quality Life Livestreaming Week. The Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League will hold the “2021 Internet Youth Life Festival”. Alibaba will host the “City Life Carnival”, bringing together specialty products from East China, time-honored brands, and seasonal new products as components of a promotional gala held by Tmall Supermarket. Tencent’s WeChat Pay will launch the “Digital Transformation Toolkit” and host the first City Carnival and Annual Conference for Creators. Pinduoduo, together with the Shanghai Municipal Government Cooperation and Exchange Office and the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, will carry out shopping activities to aid farmers, and pledge to offer 45 percent discount on stores of direct-sales model under the“100 Counties and 100 Merchandise” plan. JD.com will promote a series of Beijing-originated products with traditional Chinese characteristics, products with reliable sources, high-quality services, new products and Mother’s Day activities. Ele.me will team up with 60,000 specialty brands with Shanghai elements to organize the “New Shanghai-style Festival” and hold a themed afternoon tea party. ByteDance will hold activities like May 5 Fashion Shopping Season and Super Value Go. Oriental CJ will launch thousands of product matrixes including time-honored brands, afternoon teas, and big-name brand shows. Baidu will launch events like “Time-honored Brand, New National Tide”, combining online live broadcasts with offline store visits to promote new products and stores of time-honored brands. Dada Group will cooperate with JD Daojia’s over 100,000 offline stores and many brands to launch the June 18 joint promotion and the Dada Haibo Digital Life Empowerment Festival. Hema will launch a special garden fair for the Digital Life Festival, and introduce premium products in collaboration with well-known local and international brands. Xiaohongshu will organize internet celebrities to showcase new consumption scenarios in Shanghai’s Century Avenue Business District in the form of "slow livestreaming”. Bilibili will cooperate with the Xujiahui commercial district to introduce a new concept called “digital shopping park”. Dingdong Maicai will launch 45 percent discount on heated items and a 10,000-yuan giveaway incentive in the livestreaming room. Ximalaya will empower social, economic and cultural aspects of Shigatse using initiatives like voice-based podcasts and “technology +”. Dewu will organize livestreaming fairs for trending products and recommend high-quality and fashionable new products.

The bulk consumption sector will see the hosting of more than 70 activities. Nearly 50 new cars from 13 vehicle brands under SAIC Motor will hold special events, and introduce a series of measures to promote consumption that exceeds last year in scale and depth. Tuhu Auto will launch special activities such as 50 percent discount on car maintenance, special insurance service debut, and special activities such as nighttime car repair shops and 10,000-person supervision groups. Red Star Macalline will launch a high-end smart electrical appliance living pavilion in the “Shanghai No. 1 Global Home Furnishing Store”. Gome Yongle will offer subsidies for household appliances consumption, implement the “trade-in-the-old-for-the-new” initiative, and roll out value-added services under the “May 5 Heart-Warming Month” scheme. Suning will launch a special fund dedicated to the upgrade and renewal of electronic devices, and free physical examinations to reward the purchase of energy saving and emission-reduction home appliances.

The imported merchandise consumption sector will see nearly 100 featured activities for imported items. The “Imported Shopping Festival” will be held, during which the “Imported Commodity Theme Activities” and the “Country-specific Commodity Month” will be hosted by nearly 20 commercial enterprises including Shanghai Waigaoqiao Group, Greenland Global Commodity Trading Port, and Hongqiao Pinhui. An event featuring “Overseas Products purchased in Shanghai”, which combines online and offline platforms selling export merchandise, will be co-organized by commercial entities like K11 and Shangbin Life Plaza, as well as e-commerce players like Pinduoduo, aikucun and iBailian. Cross-border “Imported Merchandise Shopping Season” will rely on cross-border import e-commerce platforms like Xiaohongshu, Tmall International, and YMatou, to hold themed promotional activities based on festivals and merchandise.

More than 70 activities will be unveiled in the food and beverage sector. The Shanghai Commercial Association will hold the “Shanghai Snack Festival” and host special snacks exhibition and sales activities. Shanghai Restaurants and Cuisine Association and the Shanghai Business Information Center will hold the “Global Food Festival”, launch a Shanghai guide to global cuisine, and release discount combos for the “May 5 Shopping Festival” featuring global cuisine. Meituan will create a number of digital small shopping blocks, host Meituan night markets, and release city-based consumption lists.

The service consumption sector will launch more than 370 activities. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce will hold the first “Healthy Consumption Festival”. Shanghai Civic Affairs Bureau and China Council for The Promotion Of International Trade Shanghai Sub-Bureau will hold the 2021 China AID fair. Ctrip will launch a number of activities such as “Hotels on the Tip of the Tongue”, “Dual City Tour”, and livestreaming sessions by senior business executives. Yuexing Group will debut its cloud-based digital platform, leveraging the “Shanghai Flower Expo 2021” to create a micro urban vacation model, and launch six heart-warming services including a cross-city merchandise return policy under the same brand purchased in any Global Port shopping plaza within the Yangtze River Delta region.

The information consumption sector will host nearly 60 activities. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization will hold the “Shanghai Information Consumption Festival” and carry out activities focusing on products, services and experience.

The Yangtze River Delta integration sector will launch more than 30 activities. It will promote the establishment of a 7-day return service alliance for offline retail enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region. Shanghai’s five new towns including Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian and Nanhui, as well as Jinshan District will also join forces with neighboring provinces and cities to collaborate on marketing activities for local manufacturing brands, time-honored brands, as well as the interactive activities in commercial, travel and cultural sectors.

The city’s 16 districts will also anchor on “one district, one theme” during the Festival. For example, Huangpu, Jing’an, Pudong, Xuhui, Putuo, Hongkou, and Minhang will focus on the product debut economy, brand economy, and night economy; Changning, Yangpu, and Baoshan will focus on digital transformation; Chongming district will launch a series of activities revolving around the Flower Fair.

Meanwhile, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce will join hands with relevant units to carry out these activities in strict accordance with the normalized epidemic prevention and control requirements to ensure the safety of the May 5 Shopping Festival. #