HAIKOU, June 16. /TASS/. Hainan's Sanya will accelerate the development of the island's international consumer zone by actively introducing the digital yuan into circulation, stated the vice-mayor of the city Liu Zhaojun.
"Our city will hold promotion campaigns — "great deals —free of charge "and "season of consumer tourism", as well as we are planning a series of large-scale events with discounts, timed to the art festivals", he said. "We will actively introduce the digital yuan in large shopping centers all across Sanya, help to popularize it. "
The official noted that thanks to such measures, the authorities expect "to achieve a transition to a more intensive stage of development of the consumer sector."
According to the provincial statistics office, Sanya "is constantly pushing hot sales of high value-added products." According to him, in January-April, the volume of sales of cosmetics in the city increased year-on-year by more than 230%, jewelry and jewelry - by 350%, telecommunications - by 250%, cars - by 86%. During the same period, online sales grew 92% to 5.23 billion yuan (nearly $ 817 million at current exchange rates).
The Sanya administration clarified that duty free shops (there are already four of those in the city) play an important part in the development of the local consumer sector. They feature hundreds of international brands that are very popular in China.
Hainan has become one of the Chinese regions where the digital yuan is being tested. Since the end of 2019, the authorities have also tested it in Beijing, in the cities of Shenzhen, Suzhou and Chengdu, in the Xiong'an new economic zone near the Chinese capital. In October 2020, the cities of Shanghai, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao and Dalian were added to the list.