Chinese restaurants experienced slow business recovery for the first two months of the year. Some establishments have laid off employees, but the Chinese government offers bailout and voucher programs for the restaurant industry to promote healthy business activity.
After China allowed the resumption of work and production, shops, and eateries, consumer activity began reverting to normal as hundreds of people resume their posts and economic activity. Local governments in Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, and Zhejiang provinces then issued coupons worth 10 to 100 million yuan for its citizens to promote heightened economic activity.
According to the executive director of Hainan Hotel and Catering Industry Association Chen Heng, the retaliatory consumption has not improved in the catering industry as people continue to fear contamination by visiting public places. Before the reopening of establishments, Cheng claimed that the localities imposed social distancing measures and reduced the number of tables served in restaurants to ease the worries of citizens.
The founder of Fuzhou Super Dinner Co. Ltd. In Fujian province also manifested worries since chain stores continue to experience reduced revenue by 70 percent compared to pre-pandemic values. Hence,
A restaurant owner in Shenyang, Liaoning Province Huo Chunlei had been in operation for a week, but consumer activity remained limited and his business is struggling to generate revenue sufficient to cover his expenses including worker wages too.
He had retained his employees despite the financial troubles he experienced during the first two months of the business' reopening. He claimed that China's nationwide lockdown has caused troubles for his establishment caused by a significant demand in consumer demand for his products and services.
Before the imposition, consumer council surveys showed that consumers suppressed consumption willingness for dining out, shopping, and visiting entertainment venues even after the epidemic crisis begins to end.
To ease business owners' concerns over decreasing revenue yields, the Chinese government handed out 238 million USD worth of e-vouchers to promote virus-hit localities to increase their consumption levels.
The eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou first announced the giving out of e-vouchers last Thursday. The said program was created to encourage local consumers to support their local commercial sectors and increase offline consumption.
Local consumers may redeem their e-vouchers via Alibaba's online-payment service Alipay. The service was offered last Friday where consumers could enjoy a cash rebate if they made their purchases at shops. The first batch of e-vouchers was valued at 100 million yuan and was already handed out last week.
The program also covers six million offline shops engaged in catering and shopping businesses. According to the vice president of the China Chief Economist Forum Li Xunlei, proper stimulus measures were necessary to help restaurants recover from financial losses curbed by the pandemic.
