China has handed out over 19 billion yuan worth of consumption coupons since the COVID-19 outbreak, an official said on Saturday.

"As of Saturday, 28 provinces and cities and more than 170 prefecture-level cities have coordinated local government and social funds and distributed more than 19 billion yuan worth of coupons, which fully helped enhance confidence and boost consumption," said Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Bingnan.

Wang said that China has issued consumption coupons to some key groups, including low-income family and people severely affected by the coronavirus, especially those in the catering and retail industries.

"The coupons have helped increase the footfall of companies and stabilize the development of related companies and industries," said Wang.

The country's consumer market has also shown signs of accelerated recovery during the five-day May Day holiday that ended Tuesday amid further containment of COVID-19. 

The average daily sales of key retail companies increased by 32.1 percent compared with the Tomb-Sweeping Day. Online sales of physical commodities surged 36.3 percent year on year during the five-day holiday.

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