Shinan district in Qingdao, Shandong province, has seen a robust recovery in consumption during the past Labor Day holiday, which lasted from April 30 to May 4, local media outlets reported.

Ahead of the holiday, Shinan commerce bureau cooperated with the Qingdao branch of China UnionPay to issue coupons to stimulate consumption. As of May 3, 94,900 coupons with a combined value of 15.32 million yuan ($2.31 million) were used, which promoted online and offline consumption valued at 48.7 million yuan.

A number of "first stores" of brands in Qingdao or Shandong opened in Shinan district around the holiday, and greatly stimulated consumption locally.

For example, Luxihe, a traditional Chinese pastry chain, opened its first outlet in Qingdao at the MIXC shopping mall in Shinan on April 28, and set a record high sales revenue of over 410,000 yuan on the opening day.

In recent years, the "first store economy" has become a major driver behind Shinan's consumption growth. To date, the district has 247 "first stores", which is the most among districts in Shandong province.

In addition, local shopping malls introduced a variety of promotional activities to stimulate consumption. Aeon Mall launched online and offline promotional events, and achieved a 103 percent year-on-year growth in regional sales and a 104 percent increase in visitor flow.

Meanwhile, a wide range of immersive experience events fueled new consumption trends in art, education and parent-child activities.