Auto shows now held across China are driving up consumption during the five-day May Day Holiday, which started on Thursday.
Auto Shanghai 2025, one of the world's largest automotive exhibitions, which concluded on Friday after a 10-day run, drew approximately 1.01 million visitors from both home and abroad, including 63,000 overseas participants from 97 countries and regions.
The event was deliberately timed to coincide with the May Day holiday and introduced exclusive consumer vouchers that spanned cultural, tourism, commercial, and sports sectors, generating over one million yuan (about 137,526 U.S. dollars) in total spending.
"Through the ticket purchase app for the Shanghai Auto Show, we involved some other tourism and cultural events so that people could visit the auto show while making trips to other renowned tourist attractions in Shanghai for leisure," said Gu Chunting, vice chairman of the Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai.
As the Shanghai Auto Show wrapped up, the Suzhou International Auto Show opened on Thursday, taking over the spotlight. Covering a floor space of over 100,000 square meters, the event in east China's Jiangsu Province gathered more than 100 global automotive brands and over 1,000 popular vehicle models. Coupled with various favorable policy subsidies, the show has fully unleashed the five-day holiday consumption potential.
"The state's trade-in subsidy, Suzhou's new energy vehicle subsidy, and various car purchase incentives, plus exclusive promotional policies offered by major automakers for the five-day auto show, have combined to create an optimal opportunity of the year for consumers to acquire a vehicle," said Peng Jianming, an event organizer.
Over 80 cities across the country have held nearly 100 auto shows on various scales during the May Day holiday this year.
At these auto shows, intelligent and new energy vehicles (NEVs) have become top-selling products. Data reported that NEVs at many auto shows account for more than 60 percent of the transactions, reflecting the greater popularity of green consumption concept.
Auto shows drive up holiday consumption
Auto shows drive up holiday consumption
Auto shows drive up holiday consumption
Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iran early Friday, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, senior military leaders and research scientists in a major escalation against Tehran.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement that its jets have completed the first-stage attack, notably strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address that the goal of the ongoing operation is "to strike Iran's nuclear infrastructure, Iran's ballistic missile factories, and Iran's military capabilities," and will continue "for as many days as it takes."
Chief Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Hossein Salami and Deputy Army Commander Gholam-Ali Rashid were martyred as a result of the airstrikes, the official news agency IRNA reported.
The Israeli airstrikes also killed two Iranian nuclear scientists, identified as Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi, the report said. However, the Iranian side has denied reports that Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri was killed in the Israeli airstrikes, according to IRNA. A spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces said that Israel, with the support of the United States, launched attacks on many places in Iran, including residential areas, and will pay a "heavy price" for this, and await strong response from the Iranian armed forces.
Explosions were reported in Tehran and counties of Natanz, Khondab and Khorramabad, the Iranian state TV reported, adding that multiple casualties, including women and children, were reported in a residential building in Tehran.
Both Israel and Iran closed their airspace following the attack. Israel has declared a nationwide state of emergency.
In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied any U.S. assistance or involvement in the "unilateral" attack, adding that Israel had told Washington that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defense.
Earlier on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned of a possible "massive conflict" in the Middle East, saying that "I don't want them going in" as a new round of Oman-mediated negotiations between the United States and Iran will be held in Muscat Sunday.
"I want to have an agreement with Iran. We're fairly close to an agreement ... As long as I think there is an agreement, I don't want them going in because that would blow it," he told reporters in the White House.
Israel launches preemptive strike on Iran, killing military leaders
