Customers shop at the Yuyuan Garden in East China's Shanghai, May 24, 2020. [Photo/CFP]

Shanghai will host the second edition of the May 5 Shopping Festival,\r\n as part of the city's continued push to spur domestic spending and \r\nenrich consumption patterns.

The gala, which debuted last May to stimulate shopping in the \r\nimmediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, will feature new product \r\nlaunches, nightlife marketplaces and a number of online-to-offline \r\nshopping initiatives, local authorities said at a news conference on April 20.

A total of nearly 1,900 special events, organized and sponsored by \r\nforeign and homegrown brands from L'Oreal and Bright Food to social \r\nnetwork Xiaohongshu, are expected to take place during the extravaganza \r\nrunning from April to June.

One highlight would be the pilot adoption of digital currency across \r\nthe city's major commercial districts, where application scenarios have \r\nbeen experimented with since the end of last year.

"Key shopping districts, streets, enterprises and platforms are \r\ncarrying out tests in an orderly fashion and the transaction environment\r\n is being constantly optimized," said Liu Min, vice-director of the \r\nShanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.

On April 19, the municipal government of Suzhou, a neighboring city to \r\nShanghai, said via its official social media account the two cities will\r\n give out shopping incentives to encourage the use of digital currency \r\nduring the upcoming May 5 festival. Six banks have been in contact with \r\nparticipating merchants to offer discounts, it said.