Chinese cities issue coupons to boost spending

AHEAD of this month's Double 12 shopping festival, as well as the upcoming holidays, various Chinese cities took proactive measures — including issuing coupons — to boost consumer spending after the government optimized its anti-coronavirus measures.

One such city, Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province, kicked off Double 12 last week, which will run until Feb. 5, 2023. More than 12,000 enterprises have signed up for the shopping festival to offer 15 billion yuan ($2.15 billion) worth of discounts, according to the official WeChat account of the Suzhou government.