In an effort to re-float the economy after the draconian – but effective – shutdown that all but rid China of the Covid-19 scourge, many local administrations have begun issuing digital consumption vouchers similar to Groupon style activities through the nations’s mobile payment platforms to boost the coronavirus-hit economy, but some experts seem skeptical.
Consumption vouchers, some of which are digital and accessible through platforms including Ant Financial Services Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat Pay, have been distributed across 28 provincial-level regions and over 170 prefecture-level cities, according to Wang Bingnan, a deputy head of the Ministry of Commerce last week.
Wang said that the value of the already distributed vouchers, which can mainly be used for retail and catering spending, amounted to over 19 billion yuan ($2.7 billion). A sharp contrast to the trickle down stimulation efforts by western governments.
