Shanghai's retail sector has achieved its strongest performance in nearly five years, thanks to the city's "Double Five Shopping Festival" and a string of consumption-stimulating policies, according to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.
Since its launch, the "Double Five Shopping Festival" has helped revitalize the city's consumer market, attracting international consumers through city-wide events including the "Shanghai Night Festival" and "2025 Shanghai International Cruise Festival". According to local immigration authorities, foreign tourist entries have reached over 2.5 million so far this year, marking a year-on-year increase of more than 44 percent.
Driven by these consumption-focused campaigns, the city's key 50 monitored commercial areas recorded a year-on-year increase of 8.5 percent in foot traffic and a 2.1 percent rise in retail sales turnover from January to May. Among them, 15 commercial hubs experienced retail sales growth of over 10 percent year-over-year.
Data from the Consumer Market Big Data Laboratory (Shanghai) indicates that offline retail consumption in the city has reached 378.5 billion yuan (about 52.7 billion U.S dollars), with an average daily spending of 6.76 billion yuan, reflecting a 10 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
"The upcoming 'Shanghai Summer' campaign will continue the momentum from 'Double Five Shopping Festival' to launch benchmark and customized activities of the city, themed products and services, and all major commercial circles and districts will roll out 'one district, one scenario' to further enrich the supply and scenarios of consumption," said Wang Jiayi, deputy head of the commerce division of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.
Shanghai's Shopping Festivals boost retail consumption with policy support
