From consumption vouchers to gourmet bazaars, from debut product launches and premier exhibitions to ticket-stub economy, Shanghai is boosting both goods and services to inject strong momentum into its holiday economy. According to Shanghai’s tourism big data monitoring, over the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday (September 25–27), Shanghai received 7.1704 million tourists; the average room occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses in the city stood at 60.49%.

Targeted Consumption Vouchers Boost Goods Consumption

Commodity consumption serves as the ballast of the holiday economy. Districts across Shanghai leverage consumption vouchers to precisely drive large-ticket purchases such as automobiles, home appliances and digital products as well as daily consumption.

Minhang District launched the “Shop Happy in Minhang · Enjoy the City” campaign, distributing a total of 52 million yuan in special consumption vouchers plus 3.5 million yuan of “Dou Dou Happy Supermarket Benefit Vouchers”. It has built an online-and-offline full-coverage subsidy system benefiting consumers. Jing’an District plans to issue “Joy Carnival” consumption vouchers and “Shangxing” vouchers around the 2026 National Day holiday, including qualified smartphones and other smart devices within the voucher redemption scope to better meet consumer demand for upgrading tech products.

Auto consumption stands as a core pillar of this round of consumption stimulus. Pudong New Area reserved 14,000 quotas for individual buyers purchasing new cars in Pudong, with a maximum subsidy of 5,000 yuan. The second round of Xuhui District’s 2026 auto subsidy program kicked off on September 1, offering subsidies up to 4,000 yuan per vehicle. Jiading District’s second 2026 auto consumption stimulus scheme allocated 60 million yuan of fiscal funds, introducing four tiers of progressive subsidies based on vehicle prices. Vehicles priced starting from 100,000 yuan qualify for application, with a maximum district-level subsidy of 10,000 yuan per car.

Enterprises also responded actively. SAIC Motor leveraged its full-brand portfolio. Pre-sales kicked off for the all-new Roewe Jiayue 07, while key models including the MG07 and IM LS6 were launched in quick succession, stacked with multiple incentives such as trade-in subsidies, limited-time special pricing and loan interest discounts.

Home appliance and digital consumption also saw robust growth. Suning.com in Shanghai rolled out the campaign “Autumn Home Appliances Starting at 50% Off — National Day Equals Double 11”. It combined a 15% instant discount under national subsidies, up to 20% municipal subsidies, district-level subsidies and bank installment discounts, bringing combined subsidies down to as low as half price. Haier Smart Home launched a full-category upgrade season and held the global pre-sale debut in Shanghai for its fully autonomous household AI cooking robot. JD.com administered the distribution of Jiading’s e-commerce consumption vouchers. The program allocated 40 million yuan of fiscal funds, applicable to digital smart products priced above 6,000 yuan such as mobile phones, gold and jewelry. A single consumer may receive a maximum subsidy of 1,000 yuan for one category of goods.

Driven by multiple favorable policies, market consumption picked up. Min Qi, General Manager of the Sales Management Department of Suning.com’s direct stores in Shanghai, told the Shanghai Securities News reporter that during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, customer footfall at Suning’s Shanghai outlets rose more than 130% year-on-year, and trade-in orders grew by 72%.

Wang Shoucheng, CEO of Yonghui Superstores, said sales and visitor numbers at Yonghui stores increased markedly over the holiday. Bestsellers were dominated by seafood and feast staples, with notable sales of live swimming crabs, Chinese mitten crabs, salmon, Musang King durian and prawns. Stores set up Mid-Autumn Festival themed displays and hosted offline mooncake and family feast tasting events, which effectively attracted shoppers.

Upgrading and Expanding Service Consumption: Deep Integration of Culture, Tourism, Commerce, Sports and Exhibitions

Service consumption is the vitality source of the holiday economy. Drawing on local strengths, districts in Shanghai deeply integrated catering, tourism, performances, sports, light shows and other service formats with commercial spaces to build immersive new consumption scenarios.

Using light art as a medium, Huangpu District partnered with Ant Group for the debut of “Huangpu Wish Vouchers”. The 28 light installations at the main venue of the Light Festival are equipped with tap-to-view interactive information boards. Visitors checking in at art installations may redeem business district vouchers covering retail, catering and parking, with more than 200 participating merchants. The parking vouchers are a first for Huangpu District and will ease parking difficulties for holiday shoppers. Exclusive vouchers for overseas tourists targeting visitors from South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and other regions were also launched to further tap the potential of inbound consumption.

Pudong New Area focused on business district coordination. Lujiazui Business District joined Pop Mart to host the Shanghai stop of its carnival roadshow, with popular IP LABUBU landing at urban landmarks. The Qiantan Business District rolled out the Qiantan Lifestyle Season featuring four consecutive themed bazaars. Its closing event, the Inflatable Bread Festival, partnered with over 200 brands from 37 cities nationwide to stage Shanghai’s largest bread-themed event. Meanwhile, Pudong rolled out “three vouchers at once”: duty-free vouchers available for instant collection and use at Shanghai Airport, 14,000 quotas for auto purchase subsidies, and resort “Dream Vouchers” applicable to Shanghai Disneyland tickets, in-park retail and dining.

As a platform integrating culture, tourism, commerce, sports and exhibitions, Global Harbor Shanghai unveiled its folk-themed event “Moon Shines over Global Harbor · Gather the Moon in Golden Autumn” during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. Taking urban commercial spaces as cultural windows, it integrated traditional Mid-Autumn customs with modern metropolitan experiences. Concurrent was the 2026 Shanghai Global Food Fair and the 7th Shanghai Snack Carnival, gathering more than one hundred food merchants from home and abroad. For the National Day holiday, an immersive outdoor urban rice paddy installation will be built on the south square, bringing rural pastoral scenery into the downtown business district.

Source: Shanghai Securities News