BEIJING, (Xinhua) -- Ushering in the summer shopping season in high gear, China's "618" shopping festival -- originally launched around June 18 but now spanning several weeks -- has highlighted a broader shift toward upgraded, quality-driven consumption.
As of Wednesday midnight, e-commerce giant JD.com reported over 2.2 billion orders across its online, delivery, and offline channels, with the number of customers who placed orders more than doubling year on year. Peer platform Tmall also saw record engagement, with 453 brands each generating over 100 million yuan (13.94 million U.S. dollars) in sales, marking a 24 percent increase from last year.
Driving this year's robust consumer response was a nationwide trade-in program for consumer goods, supported by 300 billion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds along with matching or self-arranged contributions from local governments, incentivizing households to exchange old products for new ones.