Bell Tower Street, one of the pedestrian streets in Taiyuan city, is crowded with visitors during the Spring Festival holiday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Nine pedestrian streets in Shanxi's seven cities, the major hubs of the province's shopping and dining industries, reported rapid increases in visitor numbers and business revenue during the Spring Festival holiday, showing a strong recovery from the economic slowdown that arose from the three-year COVID-19 pandemic.

Statistics from the Shanxi Department of Commerce show that the streets received 7.44 million visits during the period spanning from Spring Festival on Jan 22 to Lantern Festival on Feb 5. Their combined business revenue was 520 million yuan ($75.45 million). Both figures have reached the levels of the same period in 2019.

Many industry insiders in Shanxi, especially those in the retail, catering, automobile sales and household appliances sales sectors, said the recovery began even before the end of 2022, when the government announced optimized measures in pandemic control and prevention. And the local government's supportive measures for business resumption contributed to the recovery.

The insiders' feeling corresponds to figures released by various governmental institutions in Shanxi.

In the automobile sales industry, for instance, the Shanxi Department of Commerce said it granted a subsidy worth 649 million yuan for the sales of vehicles in 2022, which resulted in total sales revenue of 16.06 billion yuan. As the majority of the subsidy went to the sale of new energy vehicles, the sector reported a combined sales revenue of 9.94 billion yuan for 2022, increasing 96.7 percent year-on-year.

For the entire retail industry, with a focus on automobiles, household appliances and home decorations, the government issued digital consumption coupons worth 2.51 billion yuan, which led to total sales revenue of 26.84 billion yuan.

Other measures taken by the government to stimulate the consumer market in the past year also included fostering the nighttime economy, promoting e-commerce and cultivating and strengthening renowned local brands.

The selection of nine pedestrian streets was part of Shanxi's efforts in developing the nighttime economy. To date, there are a total of 18 locales for the nighttime economy in Shanxi.

The catering industry has also benefited from a provincial branding campaign. In the past year, the provincial authorities released a list of Shanxi's top 10 dishes, top 10 noodle varieties and top 50 snacks, aiming to help increase recognition of Shanxi's catering brands throughout the country.

The government has encouraged local retail businesses to use various e-commerce platforms to expand their sales channels. Now the majority of Shanxi's supermarkets have operated online shopping apps, making door-to-door delivery possible.

When talking about the consumer markets in 2023, officials at the provincial department of commerce said that there is still room for further growth.

"To make this possible, we will highlight the initiatives from the supply side," said an official at the department. "We are encouraging businesses to create new consumption scenarios, improving the consumer experience and cultivating new models of consumption."

Yan Jie contributed to this story.