Tianjin ups efforts as major hub for shoppers

A grand shopping mall, namely The Splendors, opened on Friday in Tianjin. The shopping mall reported record-high daily revenue among its peers in the city during the New Year holiday.

On opening day, its revenue hit 6.2 million yuan ($899,000) and the number of shoppers reached 62,000. The second day saw the figures rise to 7.9 million yuan and 80,972, respectively.

Long-expected queuing scenes appeared outside some restaurants in the shopping mall, which was rarely seen amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022.

Since last week, Tianjin has begun a shopping festival to "heat up" the New Year atmosphere in a bid to achieve its ambitious target of becoming an international shopping hub, said Sun Jiannan, director of the Tianjin Municipal Commerce Bureau.

This year, the city will issue vouchers of up to 115 million yuan to stimulate consumption, Sun said.

"Tianjin opened more than 10 shopping malls despite the COVID-19 pandemic last year. In 2023, 12 more will be opened, with a total area of 1.3 million square meters," he said.

The revised policies on COVID-19 pandemic prevention in recent months are stimulating local shopping sprees, said Ding Rui, president of Jinmao Commercial Property Group, which owns The Splendors.

Located in Tianjin's Hedong district and covering a construction area of 159,500 sq m, the shopping center was transformed from an old thermal power plant built in the 1930s that was shut down in 2011.

"Visitors feel nostalgia because the plant has witnessed the city's evolution, and the local government has pinned high hopes on the area's further development," said Zhou Bo, director of Hedong district.

He expects that more landmark shopping complexes will become popular tourist attractions and prime shopping destinations for residents after the government adjusted COVID-19 prevention measures and businesses are resuming fast in recent months.

A shopping venue themed with Russian cultural elements covering an area of 60,000 sq m is expected to open in mid-2023. The venue is built on old factory sites in the district along the eastern bank of the Haihe River.

"It will take on old memories of Tianjin and show the vivid industrial civilization of the past century," Zhou said.

In July 2021, the State Council, the nation's Cabinet, designated Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou in Guangdong province to build themselves into international shopping centers, and optimized COVID-19 policies late last year to help boost the development of new shopping clusters nationwide.