According to the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, total consumer sales in Shanghai reached 100 billion yuan ($14.2 billion) 10 days after the May 5 Shopping Festival started.

"The May 5 Shopping Festival has promoted the overall recovery of the Shanghai consumer market," said Hua Yuan, director of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce at a news conference launched by the municipal government.

Hua added that from May 1 to 10, online retail sales in Shanghai exceeded 40 billion yuan, and offline consumption reached 48.2 billion yuan.

The data provided by well-known e-commerce platforms is encouraging: Pinduoduo, a high-flying e-commerce site, drove the online sales of offline entities in Shanghai and doubled its sales in 10 days. Additionally, during the May Day holiday, the daily turnover of Hema Fresh, a fresh-food chain backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, increased by more than 50 percent compared with the same period in April.

Shanghai's May 5 Shopping Festival started on May 1 and will last through to June, taking in key festivals such as May Day, Children's Day and the Dragon Boat Festival.