As the 2026 Spring Festival, dubbed the "longest holiday break in history," approaches, a comprehensive campaign to stimulate consumption, led by policy and involving the entire financial sector, is now in full swing. Financial Institutions, including banks and payment service providers, are actively responding to policy calls by launching a variety of unprecedented promotional activities. These range from exclusive online event zones and offline specialty markets to discounts on domestic spending and cashback rewards for overseas purchases, with a series of precise and inclusive financial measures being implemented intensively.
The policy framework sets the stage for a Spring Festival consumption extravaganza. On February 11, the State Council Information Office held a press conference where Vice Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping detailed the 2026 "Happy Shopping for the New Spring" special campaign. Focused on the 9-day holiday period from February 15 to 23, the initiative aims to create a consumption festival with broad regional coordination and public participation. It is reported that local governments have allocated a total of 20.5 billion yuan, planned for distribution during the holiday through various means such as consumption vouchers, subsidies, and cash red packets, directly benefiting consumers. This top-level design provides clear direction and strong policy and funding support for financial sector involvement.
On January 23, the official plan for the 2026 "Happy Shopping for the New Spring" campaign was released. Centered on the 9-day holiday, the plan aims to invigorate the holiday market, enrich public cultural life, and stimulate holiday spending. It explicitly calls for enhanced financial support, including encouraging Financial Institutions to partner with key merchants to design exclusive holiday activities, offer benefits like cash red packets and instant discounts, and broaden the campaign's reach. In conjunction with local promotional efforts, the plan encourages payment discounts, point redemption offers, and promotes the use of digital yuan smart contract red packets. It also emphasizes ensuring adequate cash availability and strengthening technical support for mobile red packets. Financial Institutions are urged to keep a suitable number of branches open to meet public financial service needs.
A February 11 notice from the People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office indicated that, to implement the plan and related directives for using financial support to boost the holiday market and stimulate consumption, it is strengthening credit policy management and continuing to advocate for the "Happy Shopping Shanghai, Financial Benefits" series of activities. Financial Institutions in Shanghai are integrating innovative financial measures to promote consumption, intensifying efforts to roll out subsidies and discounts, and creating a network of financial support activities that cover both goods and services and bridge online and offline spending.
A multi-dimensional synergy is forming, combining online and offline efforts. A representative from a major state-owned bank in East China noted that a model of "government subsidies + financial institution concessions + merchant collaboration" has taken shape. This model helps reduce consumer costs, injects financial vitality into the 2026 Spring Festival consumer market, and aids in achieving a strong start to the Year of the Horse. To facilitate customer access to promotional information and activity participation, many Financial Institutions have established prominent "Happy Shopping for the New Spring" or similar themed zones within their mobile banking apps and credit card apps. This centralized, platform-based approach enhances the reach and convenience of financial benefit programs.
Major state-owned commercial banks, leveraging their extensive customer bases and service networks, are playing a leading role. Recently, China Construction Bank launched a "CCB Five Blessings Promote Consumption" Spring Festival campaign with 15 themed activities, offering benefits like WeChat cashback coupons, consumption vouchers, digital yuan smart contract red packets, payment discounts, and preferential interest rates. Bank of Communications has implemented a national bill installment subsidy feature, offering customers up to 3,000 yuan in annual interest subsidies. Its Shandong branch also launched local collaborations with supermarkets, featuring instant discounts, cashback, and multiplied points.
As the bankcard network operator, China UnionPay launched a Spring Festival campaign themed "Splendid Reunion Gifts, Benefits Gathering from All Corners," partnering with major banks to offer discounts on railway ticket purchases, public transport, and access to government subsidies.
Financial Institutions are also tailoring promotions to specific customer needs. In Shanghai's special campaign, UnionPay's Shanghai branch offers discounts at the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's Shanghai branch provides spend-and-save offers at cultural and tourism venues. Similar targeted activities are offered by Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank in Shanghai. Other banks, including China Merchants Bank, CITIC Bank, Ping An Bank, SPD Bank, Bank of Shanghai, Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, Bohai Bank, and Bank of Ningbo in Shanghai, have also launched diverse promotions.
Capitalizing on strong outbound travel demand during the holiday, China UnionPay, along with several banks, is offering exclusive overseas spending perks, including cashback for reaching spending thresholds and instant discounts. Similarly, CITIC Bank Credit Cards launched a campaign with international card networks like Visa and Mastercard, offering up to 30% cashback on overseas spending for flights, hotels, shopping, and dining. China Guangfa Bank Credit Cards has integrated its consumption promotion strategy into daily life scenes with activities like a "New Year's Red Packet" giveaway and "Super CGB Day" Friday discounts across over 40 cities.
Regional banks are leveraging local advantages. For instance, Qingdao Rural Commercial Bank hosted an offline "New Year's Selection Market" and special services for elderly customers, featuring 22 local merchants. Banks like Bank of Jiangsu and Hangzhou United Rural Commercial Bank have also launched targeted New Year promotions for their local markets.
Analysts suggest that under the "Happy Shopping for the New Spring" policy, the financial system currently exhibits three key characteristics: comprehensive participation from major state-owned banks to local rural commercial banks; diverse tools extending beyond basic payment discounts to credit subsidies, scenario integration, and cross-border linkages; and sustainable policy effects that not only provide a short-term boost but also help cultivate rational consumption habits and optimize the financial service ecosystem in the long run.
This collaborative model of government guidance, financial institution concessions, and merchant synergy effectively builds a sustainable consumption promotion mechanism. By embedding benefits into consumption scenarios through technology, Financial Institutions enhance their precision in serving the real economy while helping consumers build trust in financial services through improved experiences. It is anticipated that the implementation of these measures will create a policy multiplier effect, not only directly boosting the holiday economy but, more importantly, improving consumer confidence and laying the groundwork for a broader recovery in the 2026 consumer market, achieving a virtuous cycle of promoting consumption and benefiting public livelihood.