2026 Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival drives consumption with cultural flair

The 2026 Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival, organized by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and relevant government departments, kicked off on Jan. 19, and will last until March 4.

As the first major online activity under this year's "Shopping in China" campaign, a nationwide initiative launched by the ministry to promote shopping, dining and tourism, the shopping festival centers on four key themes: promoting traditional Chinese culture, enriching high-quality supply, upgrading consumption scenarios, and connecting domestic and global markets. Regions and e-commerce platforms will be mobilized to roll out a series of popular and distinctive activities, further stimulating consumption potential.

As the Spring Festival draws near, the 2026 Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival is gaining momentum, with a growing array of activities that not only fill shopping carts but also create a strong festive atmosphere.

A livestreamer promotes Chinese New Year goods at the Yangtze River Delta agricultural products expo and the 2026 Chinese New Year Shopping Festival held at Jiaxing International Convention & Exhibition Center in Jiaxing, east China's Zhejiang Province on Jan. 24, 2026. (Photo/Workers' Daily)

On Jan. 24, the 2026 Hubei Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival kicked off in central China's Hubei Province. The event combined livestreaming sessions with offline exhibitions, bringing together quality products and popular brands to offer consumers diverse Spring Festival shopping options.

"During this online shopping festival, places across the province will hold more than 120 integrated online and offline consumption promotion activities. We hope all places will strengthen connections and interaction between online and offline market resources, improve online services for food, accommodation, transport, travel, shopping and entertainment, and deliver a Spring Festival shopping extravaganza featuring wide enterprise participation, diverse product categories, substantial discounts, and an excellent shopping environment," said Li Xiaoyan, deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Department of Commerce.

On Jan. 16, the launch ceremony for the 2026 Henan Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival took place in Kaifeng, central China's Henan Province. Beyond specialty agricultural products, cultural products have emerged as a new growth point. Across cities throughout Henan, activities such as Spring Festival lantern shows, folk culture performances, and livestreamed demonstrations of intangible cultural heritage are helping boost integrated commercial, cultural and tourism consumption.

Wang Jun, deputy director of the Henan Provincial Department of Commerce, noted that the month-and-a-half-long online shopping festival serves to "fuel the fire" for boosting consumption, expanding domestic demand and improving people's livelihoods, while also acting as a concrete measure to secure a good start for the province's economy this year.

MOFCOM spokesperson He Yongqian said various regions and e-commerce platforms will launch a wide range of supporting activities centered on Spring Festival needs in food, accommodation, transport, travel, shopping and entertainment. These include organizing intangible cultural heritage performances and cultural and creative product exhibitions, making Spring Festival consumption both "down-to-earth" and "culturally enriching."

Meanwhile, MOFCOM will integrate the Silk Road E-commerce Carnival for Spring Festival, guiding e-commerce platforms, major shopping districts, national pavilions of Silk Road e-commerce partner countries, and livestreaming e-commerce bases to carry out activities such as exporting Chinese New Year goods and create a joyful and festive holiday atmosphere, the spokesperson added.

With new products emerging constantly, merchants are seizing market opportunities through diversified strategies. As the Year of the Horse approaches, Yiwu Ding'ao Trade Co., Ltd. in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, is operating at full capacity, increasing the supply of its distinctive toy products on major e-commerce platforms.

"We mainly produce PU toys, plastic toys, and other products, including both independently developed signature categories and trending items," said Wen Li, the company's general manager.

This year, the company has leveraged the Yangtze River Delta region's supply chain advantages to continuously enhance product quality while expanding its range of trendy offerings, riding the festive momentum created by the Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival. Many products are not only selling well domestically but are also popular among overseas Chinese and foreign consumers.

"Based on sales feedback from e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Tmall, and Alibaba.com since New Year's Day, we expect our company's sales during the New Year and Spring Festival holidays to grow by around 15 percent," Wen said.

Beyond abundant activities and quality products, promotional incentives and service guarantees have also emerged as key highlights of the 2026 Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival.

"Considering characteristics such as large family sizes in north China's Shanxi Province, cold winter weather, and a strong noodle-based food culture, our stores have focused on stocking and promoting small kitchen appliances for making noodles and high-efficiency heating equipment," said Yu Hanghua, general manager of the Shanxi branch of online retailer Suning.com.

In addition to optimized supply, the platform and merchants are actively rolling out promotional campaigns linked to the trade-in subsidy program for consumer goods and invoice lottery policies.

Since the country's trade-in subsidy program took effect in Shanxi on Jan. 9, sales of the most energy-efficient or water-efficient home appliances at the retailer's stores have accounted for over 90 percent of total sales. Among these, sales of the most energy-efficient air conditioners and water heaters rose by 30.5 percent and 68.4 percent year on year, respectively, while sales of refrigerators above 500 liters surged by more than 70 percent year on year.

"Currently, Tmall Supermarket's flash sale business has expanded from 20 cities nationwide to 50 cities, serving over 400 million users," said Jiao Jin, operations director of Tmall Supermarket, a division of Alibaba's e-commerce platform.

Tmall Supermarket partnered with Cainiao, Alibaba's logistics arm, to establish multiple flash sale warehouses across different areas of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, creating a multi-tier warehousing system combining large hubs with neighborhood warehouses. Large warehouses cover full product categories to meet diverse consumer needs, while smaller warehouses focus on popular and new products to enable faster response. As a result, overall delivery efficiency has improved by more than 50 percent.

During the 2026 Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival, Tmall Supermarket has further accelerated operations in Hangzhou, making it the first city nationwide to achieve citywide four-hour flash delivery.