The 2024 International Consumer Season and Shanghai May 5th Shopping Festival launch event, as well as the National Consumer Goods Trade in Action – Shanghai Station and International Consumer Center City Forum, were held on April 27th at the World Reception Hall located on the North Bund of Shanghai.
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Chen Jining, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, and Shen Haixiong, Deputy Minister of the Central Propaganda Department and Director of the Central Radio and Television Station, attended and jointly launched the 2024 International Consumer Season and the 5th Shanghai May 5th Shopping Festival, as well as the National Consumer Goods Exchange – Shanghai Station event.
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Before the launch of the event, Chen Jining, Wang Wentao, Shen Haixiong and others came to the exhibition area on the first floor of the World Reception Hall, and successively inspected the “must buy and take” commodity displays and CCTV broadcast rooms in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing and other cities, to understand the new scenes, new models and new experiences of the supply of featured products, the renewal of time-honored brands, the building of the “China-Chic” brand and the integration of diversified consumption.
At the event site, representatives of the third batch of Chinese time-honored enterprises recognized by the Ministry of Commerce in conjunction with relevant departments were awarded plaques. Shanghai has released policies for the linkage of business, tourism, cultural and sports exhibitions, as well as action plans to further improve payment convenience and a special action plan to trade in consumer goods. A trailer for the “Shanghai Summer” international consumption season has been broadcasted. Cities such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Chongqing showcase exciting and enjoyable consumption scenes and experiences through video connections. Representatives from domestic and foreign enterprises such as Bailian Group, Ele.me, Guangming Group, JD.com, Kaiyun Group, Meituan, Pinduoduo, SAIC Group, Tuhu Yangche, Ctrip, China Eastern Airlines, and China UnionPay joined forces to announce the unique highlights of their respective promotional activities during the festival and introduce the latest measures to actively participate in the construction of Shanghai as an international consumer center city.
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During his keynote speech at the 3rd International Consumer Center City Forum, Wang Wentao pointed out that the cultivation and construction of international consumer center cities have achieved positive results, with a comprehensive improvement in consumer leadership, center driven driving force, and international influence. In 2023, the total social capital of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Chongqing increased by 8.4% year-on-year, with a growth rate 1.2 percentage points higher than the national average. Wang Wentao emphasized that international consumption center cities should better play a demonstrative and leading role, continuously consolidate the positive momentum of consumption rebound, seek driving force from innovation, seek vitality from openness, and promote high-quality cultivation and construction. To promote the exchange of old for new consumer goods and stimulate consumer vitality; Expand service consumption and unleash consumption potential; Adhere to innovation leadership and promote the development of new forms and models of consumption; Promote the benefit of the people and better meet their needs for a better life.
During his keynote speech, Shen Haixiong stated that as the world’s largest comprehensive international media carrier with the largest scale, most business forms, and widest coverage, the headquarters fully utilizes the international communication resources and integrated communication advantages of 80 languages and 192 overseas sites, actively assists in the construction of international consumer center cities and economic and social development, and allows audiences at home and abroad to see that China’s economy is resilient, has great potential, and full of vitality, effectively singing the “Bright Theory of China’s Economy”. In order to further unleash media resources and brand advantages, and support economic development, the headquarters has collaborated with the Ministry of Commerce and local governments for five consecutive years to innovate and carry out activities such as the “National Consumption Promotion Month”, the Beijing Tianjin Hebei Consumption Season, the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area Consumption Season, and the Shanghai May 5th Shopping Festival. The headquarters will closely collaborate with all parties to help create a globally friendly, universal, age friendly, all time friendly, and panoramic friendly consumer market environment.
Vice Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping presided over the forum. Hua Yuan, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Mayor, Sima Hong, Deputy Mayor of Beijing, Li Wenhai, Deputy Mayor of Tianjin, Zhang Guozhi, Deputy Mayor of Chongqing, and Tan Ping, Deputy Mayor of Guangzhou, respectively delivered speeches. Chacha Stepan, Mayor of Bangkok, Thailand, and Nick Smo, Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, UK, delivered speeches via video. Wang Yiming, Vice Chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchange, and Liu Yuanchun, President of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, delivered speeches respectively. The forum released the “Report on the Development of China’s Consumer Market” and the “Annual Report on the Cultivation and Construction of International Consumer Center Cities”.
Shanghai leaders Zhao Jiaming, Li Zheng, Zongming, Xiao Guiyu, representatives of Chinese and foreign enterprises and industry associations attended.
As one of the key activities of the “Consumption Promotion Year” of the Ministry of Commerce, the 2024 International Consumption Season will launch new consumption scenarios such as debut, fashion consumption, health consumption, and sports consumption, guiding local organizations to carry out rich and diverse business, tourism, cultural, sports and health integration activities. The 5th Shanghai May 5th Shopping Festival, which will be launched synchronously, will continue until the end of June, focusing on the economy of first launch, brand economy, night economy, live streaming economy, as well as new consumption, service consumption, automobile consumption, and green consumption, and carrying out more than 1000 special activities. The “Shanghai Summer” International Consumption Season is a new brand of urban summer consumption promotion activities created by Shanghai after the “May 5th Shopping Festival”. It will last from the first weekend of July to the second weekend of October, fully leveraging the rich resources of Shanghai’s high-quality cultural tourism and the convergence of high-quality goods and services. Combining with the comprehensive transportation convenience of international aviation hubs, international cruise hub ports, railways, highways, and other facilities, a series of high-quality, high flow, and high-energy concerts, music festivals, cultural performances, cultural and artistic exhibitions, major sports events will be launched, and a series of service measures reflecting Shanghai’s internationalization and quality consumption environment will be jointly introduced with businesses, platforms, hotels, attractions, venues, etc.
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Photography: Chen Zhengbao