The commerce bureau of Chongchuan district, Nantong reports booming retail sales during the just-concluded National Day holiday as pent-up consumption steam is unleashed with anti-COVID-19 measures still in place. [Photo/WeChat account: chongchuanonline]

The commerce bureau of Chongchuan district in Nantong reported booming retail sales during the just-concluded National Day holiday as pent-up consumption steam is unleashed with anti-COVID-19 measures still in place.

The Golden Week holiday has eight days this year because the National Day celebration overlaps with the Mid-Autumn Festival, providing Chinese consumers with the first long vacation since the epidemic broke out early this year.

As the main urban area of Nantong, Chongchuan enjoyed a consumer goods market with stable prices and good market order. The 24 key wholesale, retail and catering enterprises monitored realized combined sales of 963 million yuan ($142.8 million) during the period, an increase of 11.23 percent year-on-year.

Various marketing tools such as discounts and coupons spiced up the consumption market. For example, the Babaiban shopping mall on Nandajie Street enjoyed a total in-store sales increase of 46.6 percent compared with the same period last year, while passenger flow increased by 12 percent and catering consumption rose 46 percent.

According to statistics, sales picked up 23.26 percent year-on-year at six key shopping malls in Chongchuan; those of eight supermarkets exceeded 49 million yuan, up by 33.9 percent year-on-year.

The local government also introduced a slew of measures to promote consumption. From Sept 9 to Oct 8, the Nantong Municipal Bureau of Commerce organized a 2020 Consumption Promotion Month. Various activities such as special product exhibitions, food and cultural festivals and shopping carnivals were held. Virus preventive and control measures were implemented during the process to ensure safety.