An activity is held at night in Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: qidongfabu]

According to the Qidong commerce bureau, the city's retail sales amounted to 21.55 billion yuan ($3 billion) from January to May, an increase of 14.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

To boost consumption potential, Qidong has held a series of promotional activities this year and has issued various consumption coupons worth 10 million yuan.

The city also held an automobile festival. More than 100 popular cars from 21 brands were exhibited at the Phoenix Hui Commercial Plaza for a six-day auto show.

During the event, 5 million yuan in consumption coupons was issued to encourage people to buy cars. By the end of the event, a total of 542 cars were sold, including 152 high-end brand cars, with a turnover of nearly 110 million yuan.

During the May Day holiday period, the city held the first Qidong Coffee Culture Festival, which included a coffee market fair and cultural and a creative product market fair. During the event, key supermarkets in the city issued more than 10,000 coupons with a cumulative discount amount exceeding 5 million yuan.