Shanghai sees consumer growth since the start of May 5 Shopping Festival. [Photo/Xinhua]

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, China has issued more than 19 billion yuan ($2.66 billion) in consumer vouchers from local governments and social funds.

Zhou Tongyu, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, believes that these vouchers have helped enterprises in industries severely affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic and brought significant customer flow.

According to Zhou, Alipay is currently the main channel and preferred platform for local governments to issue consumer vouchers. Over the past 40 days, more than 100 cities across the country have issued digital coupons through Alipay, which has directly boosted consumption by an average of 8 yuan per 1 yuan, benefiting tens of millions of small stores and manufacturers.

"Practice in many places shows that digital vouchers are effective in stimulating consumption, helping small stores and stabilizing employment," Zhou said.

During the May 5 Shopping Festival in Shanghai, more than 10 billion consumer vouchers were issued, saving more than 100,000 small stores.

Zhou advised officials to turn the short-term expedient into long-term policy levers, encourage government-enterprise cooperation, and make vouchers the core measure for boosting consumption.