(Yicai Global) May 8 -- Chinese governments at various levels have issued CNY19 billion (USD2.7 billion) in coupons to date since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus to restore the economy and promote consumption, Wang Bingnan, the country's vice minister of commerce, told a press briefing today.

This figure is broken down over 170 prefecture-level cities and 28 provinces and municipalities in China, Wang noted.

These promotional events, mainly targeting the particularly hard-hit catering and retail sectors, have brought them evidently enlarged customer flows, raised their actual income, and been instrumental in stabilizing companies and sectors, he added.

E-commerce plays a great role in the field of consumption, Wang also pointed out, and the public-benefit coupons issued in various areas boosted on-line consumption of actual retail goods by 36.3 percent per year over the May Day holiday period from May 1 to May 5.

The major e-commerce platforms have also set up special sales areas and sessions for export products, focusing on recommending those including clothing, silk, toys, luggage and porcelain, and thus helping foreign trade companies to broaden their online sales channels and counteract the impact of the decline in external demand.

During the May Day holiday, the average daily sales of key retail enterprises rose more than 32 percent over the Qingming holiday that started April 4, thus showing an accelerating recovery.

The consumption scale of the national catering and accommodation industry has also recovered to about 70 percent of that of the same period last year, which is about 20 percentage points higher than that during this year's Qingming Festival holiday, Wang stated.

Editor: Ben Armour