(Yicai Global) May 5 -- Shanghai officially instituted its May 5th Shopping Festival yesterday, which is a massive consumption-boosting campaign. 

The event will run through the entirety of May and June, and straddle key holidays such as Labor Day, Children's Day and the Dragon Boat Festival.

Consumers are eligible to receive shopping vouchers in Shanghai as local governments seek to reignite consumption as the country begins to dust itself off from the Covid-19 pandemic.

"During this critical period of rebooting the economy, we decided to host this festival covering all online and offline businesses ... to unlock consumption potential and boost consumer confidence," the eastern megacity's Acting Mayor Gong Zheng said at the opening ceremony.

Executives from Tesla, L’Oreal, Alibaba Group Holding, Pinduoduo, JD.Com and another 15 companies attended last night’s kick-off gala.

The platform offers discounts and distributes large-sum shopping coupons that can be redeemed for 1,000 local lifestyle brands and with 420,000 Shanghai-based merchants on Alibaba’s Taobao consumer-to-consumer online emporium and its Tmall business-to-consumer platform, according to the city government.

Editor: Ben Armour