China’s 76-day lockdown has been lifted and now the nation faces the next challenge: getting consumers to shop - preferably to splurge - in order to help retail recover. Cities across the nation have issued shopping vouchers to encourage spending. Online retailer Suning.com has recently distributed vouchers worth 500 million yuan (about $70.4 million) to its customers nationwide to encourage them to purchase goods at its online and offline stores. The move came after Ningbo launched a sales promotion campaign along with a group of businesses to consumers with vouchers and coupons worth around 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion). <h3><strong>Counting on Coupons</strong></h3> Other cities have taken similar action. Nanjing has issued over 300 million yuan to residents, in particular to people facing financial difficulties. Jinan has issued $28 million worth of coupons to stimulate spending on tourism and culture. Jiande plans to do the same, targeting $14 million. In early March, Chinese authorities released guidelines aimed at boosting consumption and unleashing the potential of the domestic market to cushion the blow of the pandemic on economic activities. The guidelines, jointly issued by 23 government departments, detailed 19 measures to remove institutional barriers for consumption growth and revive pent-up demands due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to Xinhua. <h3><strong>Making Up for Lost Sales</strong></h3> According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption growth, declined 20.5 percent year on year in the first two months of this year. While China might not recoup all of its lost sales, the government and businesses are working together to try and reverse the downward spiral as quickly as possible. <h3><strong>Massive Action</strong></h3> Shanghai is looking take even more agressive action. The city is eyeing a plan to promote night-time shopping by opening 24-hour retail areas. It will also promote tax-free shopping in order to draw tourists from other parts of the country, and later from overseas, according to the Shanghai's Commerce Commissioner. The goal is to continue to take measure to prevent the spread of the pandemic, while trying to get the economy up and running again.