Shanghai to issue consumption vouchers worth total of 500 million yuan

SHANGHAI, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai will allocate 500 million yuan (about 71.14 million U.S. dollars) from its municipal budget to issue consumption vouchers for the dining, accommodation, cinema and sports sectors, the Shanghai municipal government's information office said on Wednesday.

Funds for the vouchers will be distributed based on each sector's consumption share and demand: 360 million yuan will go to the dining sector, 90 million yuan to accommodation, 30 million yuan to cinema, and 20 million yuan to sports. The first round of vouchers will be available from Sept. 28.

Dining and accommodation vouchers have been divided into four tiers based on spending levels, with adjustments to be made according to redemption data during implementation.

Dining vouchers have four discount levels: a 50 yuan discount on spending of 300 yuan, 100 yuan on spending of 500 yuan, 200 yuan on spending of 800 yuan, and 300 yuan on spending of 1,000 yuan. Accommodation vouchers provide discounts of 50 yuan on spending of 300 yuan, 130 yuan on spending of 600 yuan, 220 yuan on spending of 900 yuan, and 300 yuan on spending of 1,200 yuan.

Cinema vouchers offer 20 yuan or 30 yuan discounts per movie ticket, while sports vouchers come in six tiers, ranging from 5 yuan off 10 yuan to 80 yuan off 200 yuan, with additional vouchers available for specific activities such as swimming, badminton and winter sports.

The vouchers will be distributed in two phases. The first phase will run from late September to late October, with additional dining and cinema vouchers set for release during the National Day holiday to boost consumption. The second phase will run from November to December, focusing on increasing the distribution of accommodation and sports vouchers to stimulate off-season spending.