On February 2, nine authorities including the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice regarding the distribution of the "2026 'Happy Spring Shopping' Chinese New Year Special Event Plan." The plan proposes enhancing financial support. It encourages financial institutions to collaborate with key merchants to design exclusive New Year activities, offering benefits such as consumer red packets and instant discounts to broaden the event's reach. In conjunction with local consumption promotion campaigns, incentives like spend-and-save offers and point redemption will be introduced, with encouragement for the use of digital yuan smart contract-based consumer red packets. Adequate small-denomination cash needs will be fully met, and technical support for mobile red packets will be strengthened. Financial institutions are to ensure a sufficient number of branches remain open during the holiday to meet public financial service demands.
The plan also indicates support for cross-sector integration. It encourages local authorities to mobilize businesses across various sectors including catering, accommodation, cultural tourism attractions, theatrical performances, art exhibitions, sports events, and transportation to jointly launch "Happy Spring Shopping ticket stub benefits." Examples include receiving complimentary attraction tickets with hotel stays, movie discount vouchers with restaurant dining, and ride-hailing coupons with event attendance, linking typical Spring Festival consumption scenarios. Platform companies are to leverage their online traffic advantages, encouraging consumers to "book online, experience offline," thereby promoting balanced development between online and offline channels.
The original text is as follows: Notice from Nine Authorities Including the Ministry of Commerce Regarding the Distribution of the "2026 'Happy Spring Shopping' Chinese New Year Special Event Plan" To: Central Propaganda Department, Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, People's Bank of China, National Financial Regulatory Administration, National Radio and Television Administration, General Administration of Sport, China Media Group, Civil Aviation Administration of China, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., Party propaganda departments of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, cities with independent planning status, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, competent departments of cyberspace, commerce, culture and tourism, radio and television, and sports, Shanghai Head Office of the People's Bank of China, branches in provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, and cities with independent planning status, regulatory bureaus of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, regional administrations of civil aviation, and railway bureau groups: To implement the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference, follow State Council arrangements, invigorate the holiday market, stimulate consumption vitality, and better meet the people's needs for a better life, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, has researched and formulated the "2026 'Happy Spring Shopping' Chinese New Year Special Event Plan," which is now issued. All regions and departments are requested to enhance political stance, strengthen organizational leadership, improve working mechanisms, reinforce coordinated efforts, and ensure effective implementation of the activities; strengthen holiday market monitoring, comprehensively utilize various means including big data for multi-dimensional analysis and evaluation of activity effectiveness, and fully reflect the Spring Festival consumption market situation; balance development and security, strictly implement all safety production requirements, and ensure safe and orderly conduct of various activities. Ministry of Commerce, Central Propaganda Department, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, People's Bank of China, National Financial Regulatory Administration, National Radio and Television Administration, General Administration of Sport, Civil Aviation Administration of China, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. January 23, 2026.
2026 "Happy Spring Shopping" Chinese New Year Special Event Plan. The 2026 Spring Festival will feature a 9-day holiday. To invigorate the holiday market, enrich public cultural life, stimulate holiday consumption vitality, and create a comprehensively coordinated, universally enjoyable Spring Festival consumption feast, integrating the cultural connotations of the Year of the Horse with Spring Festival consumption characteristics, this plan is formulated.
I. Work Approach. Implement the Party Central Committee and State Council's decisions and deployments on expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption, deeply implement special actions to revitalize consumption, build the "Shop in China" brand, adhere to government guidance, market leadership, and public participation, closely focus on core demands such as traditional customs, family reunions, shopping, and travel, concentrate on areas including debut economy, digital consumption, green consumption, smart consumption, healthy consumption, and inbound consumption, and through the integration of commerce, tourism, culture, sports, and health, and online-offline linkage, organize and carry out diverse, popular Spring Festival consumption promotion activities. Expand the supply of high-quality goods and services, enrich diversified consumption scenarios, stimulate physical commerce vitality, and better meet the people's needs for a better life.
II. Activity Period. February 15–23, 2026 (9-day Spring Festival holiday).
III. Activity Logo Design. A unified activity logo is designed (attached). Activities organized by departments, local governments and relevant departments, as well as participating business associations, financial institutions, and market entities, shall uniformly use the activity logo in promotional materials. Various red packets, points, vouchers, and benefit coupons issued by relevant units and market entities shall bear the activity name and display the activity logo.
IV. Activity Content. (1) Delicious · Savor Fresh Tastes Immediately to Experience the New Year Flavor. Integrate with the "China Food Festival" and "Time-Honored Brand Carnival" activities, organize renowned restaurants, time-honored catering enterprises, and local specialty snacks to launch New Year's Eve dinner sets and Spring Festival reunion banquets, offering value-added services like live performances, complimentary snacks, and lucky draws. Encourage localities to publish food maps, set up New Year flavor food markets in pedestrian streets, parks, communities, etc., according to local conditions, host food competitions, cooking contests, "Share My Family Reunion Dinner" activities, and promote holiday best-selling products through various food events, attracting more people to "Taste the Chinese New Year" together.
(2) Comfortable Stay · Dragon Horse Peaceful Dwelling to Enjoy Reunion. Coordinate with home furnishing markets, appliance brands, and home decoration companies to launch the "Renew Your Home for the New Year" public-benefit promotion. Organize chain hotels, boutique homestays, resorts, etc., to conduct the "Happy Stay for the New Year" themed activities, offering benefits like consecutive stay discounts, family suite packages, New Year guest gifts, and off-peak accommodation vouchers.
(3) Smooth Travel · Horse Galloping in Spring Breeze Towards a Bright Future. Civil aviation and railway departments will increase transport capacity and optimize air-rail intermodal products. Encourage airlines to conduct ticket lotteries, provide special New Year in-flight meals, collaborate with airports to enrich aviation-cultural tourism product supply, and optimize services for passengers with special needs. Railway departments will enhance holiday transport supply capacity, increase ticket discounts for non-peak times and routes, expand the implementation scope of "quiet carriages," and implement convenient measures like luggage pickup/delivery and ski equipment carriage. Encourage localities to guide gas stations to set up "New Year Supply Stations," providing convenient services like hot water and emergency medicines.
(4) Great Tours · Galloping Far to See the Splendid Landscape. Conduct a national Spring Festival cultural and tourism consumption month, launching seasonal and thematic characteristic cultural tourism activities and consumption benefit measures based on winter and Spring Festival characteristics. Support localities in hosting temple fairs, lantern festivals, intangible cultural heritage performances, cultural museum exhibitions, ice and snow carnivals, etc. Carry out "Travel with Movies," "Appreciate Intangible Cultural Heritage with Movies," and "Travel with Intangible Cultural Heritage" activities. Railway departments will organize special tourist trains. Support cultural tourism market entities in offering early bird discounts, guiding consumers to travel during off-peak periods.
(5) Great Shopping · Non-stop Horse Delivering Good Gifts. Organize hundreds of streets, thousands of commercial circles, and millions of shops to carry out the "Endless Gift Enjoyment" activity, guide key commercial circles (pedestrian streets), brand stores, tax-free shops for departing tourists, and other physical stores to stock sufficient high-quality goods and coordinate public-benefit promotions. Encourage shopping malls, pedestrian streets, night-time cultural tourism consumption clusters, community parks, etc., to open market zones for New Year goods sales. Conduct activities like the Intangible Cultural Heritage New Year Goods Shopping Month, Online New Year Goods Festival, and "Foreign Trade Quality Products Tour China," selecting trendy domestic products, international fine goods, and quality foreign trade products to make global goods part of Chinese New Year purchases. Support county areas in hosting New Year goods fairs, organizing local specialty products to enter commercial circles, scenic spots, and communities. Encourage shopping malls, supermarkets, courier services, agricultural wholesale markets, etc., to arrange reasonable business hours.
(6) Fun Activities · Playing Dragons and Teasing Horses to Celebrate the New Year. Encourage localities to offer Spring Festival movie screening discounts and conduct New Year benefit activities like "Taste Food with Movies." Encourage art troupes to hold special Spring Festival exhibitions of quality repertoire. Advocate for artists and cultural workers to conduct public welfare performances, calligraphy blessings, and other cultural benefit activities in parks, communities, and villages during return visits or travel. Organize national fitness New Year greeting activities, hosting diverse public sports events and activities. Encourage popular museums, art galleries, and other cultural venues to appropriately extend opening hours and increase reception capacity during the Spring Festival, support eligible public sports venues in offering free or low-cost admission based on local conditions.
V. Support Measures. (1) Conduct Invoice Lotteries. Guide pilot cities for invoice lotteries to carefully design schemes, increase prize payouts during the Spring Festival, allowing consumers to win prizes, add joy, and gain benefits through consumption. Encourage other regions to integrate resources and organize shopping draws, consumption subsidies, consumption rebate vouchers, etc., according to local conditions to attract broad consumer participation.
(2) Strengthen Replacement Programs. Encourage localities to increase the number of consumer goods replacement subsidies during the Spring Festival, enhance support for physical retail, mobilize enterprises to continue organizing exhibitions and sales related to automobiles, home appliances, digital and smart products during the holiday, guide businesses to create experience zones for products like smart terminals, offer more discounts to in-store experience consumers, intensify policy interpretation and offline experiential consumption promotion, and create a strong replacement atmosphere.
(3) Enhance Financial Support. Encourage financial institutions to partner with key merchants to plan exclusive Spring Festival activities, offering benefits like consumer red packets and instant discounts to expand the activity's coverage. Integrate with local consumption promotion activities to introduce incentives such as spend-and-save offers and point redemption, encouraging the use of digital yuan smart contract-based consumer red packets. Fully meet small-denomination cash needs and strengthen technical support for mobile red packets. Financial institutions should ensure an adequate number of branches remain open to meet public financial service demands.
(4) Support Cross-sector Integration. Encourage localities to mobilize businesses across sectors like catering, accommodation, cultural tourism attractions, theatrical performances, art exhibitions, sports events, and transportation to jointly launch "Happy Spring Shopping ticket stub benefits," such as receiving complimentary attraction tickets with hotel stays, movie discount vouchers with restaurant meals, and ride-hailing coupons with event attendance, linking typical Spring Festival consumption scenarios. Leverage the online traffic attraction role of platform enterprises, encourage consumers to "book online, experience offline," promoting balanced online-offline development.
(5) Facilitate Inbound Consumption. Encourage localities to publish multilingual Spring Festival custom maps, guiding international tourists to participate in and experience Chinese intangible cultural heritage and folk activities. Increase transport capacity on international routes based on market demand, offering "aviation + cultural tourism" combo products for inbound tourism. Focus on key scenarios, continuously improve the payment environment including bank card, mobile payment, and cash services to facilitate payments for inbound tourists.
This article is compiled from the official website of the "Ministry of Commerce."