Customers select products at Xi'an Downtown Duty Free Shop in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Nov. 26, 2025. The first downtown duty-free shop in China's northwest region opened in Xi'an on Wednesday. Holders of valid entry and/or exit documents who have purchased outbound flight or cruise tickets due in 60 days are eligible for duty-free discounts on their purchase at the shop. (Xinhua/Zou Jingyi)

Multiple regions across China have rolled out consumption campaigns at the end of the year, featuring diverse promotions and immersive experiences across retail, culture and tourism, sports and services to fuel market momentum and highlight the vitality of the domestic consumer sector.

Experts noted that the year-end period is a crucial time for spending, and the rollout of cross-year campaigns, shopping vouchers and major promotions underscores consumption's role as an "anchor" for stabilizing the nation's economic growth.

The city of Wuhan in Central China's Hubei Province has kicked off a cross-year consumption campaign running through the end of February next year, featuring more than 300 themed activities across the winter and spring seasons. The initiative aligns with the city's master plan to build itself into an international consumption center from 2025 to 2027, according to the local commerce bureau.

On Saturday, Shanghai's No.1 Yaohan store launched its cross-year sales campaign, Chinese media outlet thepaper.cn reported. Traditionally concentrated around December 31 and January 1, this year's promotion has been extended to 11 days. While investment gold bars are excluded from year-end discounts, the promotional scale for gold jewelry is generally stronger than in previous years. Mall staff also noted a marked increase in the proportion of overseas shoppers, said the report. 

The cross-year consumption season of Dongguan in South China's Guangdong Province began in November and runs to March 2026, covering the peak consumption period around the year's end and beginning. The campaign focuses on six sectors — retail, catering, culture and tourism, agriculture, culture and sports — and is expected to involve more than 1,000 enterprises and platforms, injecting fresh momentum into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area economy, according to the Guangdong government. 

Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the concentrated release of consumption toward the end of the year is crucial for stabilizing the nation's overall economic fundamentals.

On the one hand, consumption campaigns fuel growth across industries and support smoother operations of industrial chains; on the other, they lift market confidence, encouraging businesses to adjust production and investment, stabilize jobs and capital spending, and underpin steady economic performance, said Wang.

Meanwhile, some localities are exploring new consumption models, including leveraging winter-specific features and extending the momentum of trade-in programs for consumer goods that were launched in 2025, to keep spending enthusiasm alive.

Also in Wuhan, the ice-and-snow season opened on Saturday and will run through February 23, 2026, covering major holidays including the Winter Solstice, New Year's Day and the 2026 Spring Festival. Activities will be held at seven ice rinks, four ski resorts, and key commercial areas, streets and scenic spots across the city, according to a press release issued by the Wuhan government on December 17. 

Notably, 1.5 million yuan ($210,000) in ice-and-snow consumption vouchers will be issued during the season. Exhibition vouchers can be used to purchase selected products, training vouchers can subsidize youth skating courses, and sports tourism vouchers can be redeemed for premium sports travel products offered by partner travel agencies.

Jinan in East China's Shandong Province recently announced that remaining funds from its 2025 consumer goods trade-in and home elderly-friendly renovation programs would be converted into additional consumption vouchers issued from December 12 to 14, a move expected to further stimulate year-end economic activity, according to the local government.

Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday that during visits to major commercial districts in Beijing and Guangzhou over the weekend, he observed bustling consumption scenes. "In Guangzhou's Wanbo Center, the city's second-largest business area, diners were still lining up for meals at 1:30 pm, which really surprised me and clearly shows that consumption momentum is picking up," he said.

Such on-the-ground observations reflect a broader rebound in consumer sentiment, a trend that is also being reinforced at the policy level.

China's Ministry of Commerce said at a meeting on Saturday that it will make strong efforts to boost consumption, expand the supply of high-quality goods and services, and further unleash the potential of services consumption.

These moves are in line with broader macro policy signals from the central government. When interpreting the spirit of the 2025 Central Economic Work Conference, an official from the Office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs told the Xinhua News Agency on December 16 that expanding domestic demand will be given the top priority next year, with efforts to boost consumption by addressing structural changes and coordinating measures from both the supply and demand sides.

Zhang noted that with joint efforts from national policies, local governments, businesses and online platforms, consumers' sense of participation and confidence is being reignited. 

"This rebound in enthusiasm has also laid a solid foundation for consumption during the upcoming New Year's Day holiday and the Spring Festival season," Zhang said.