Greater Bay Area Shopping Festival begins

The opening ceremony of a three-week online shopping event that targets the sale of products from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was held on Thursday afternoon.

The "Greater Bay Area Shopping Festival", scheduled from Thursday to Sept 22, involves about 298,000 brands from the region, offering more than 13 million items on Chinese online shopping platforms such as Taobao.

The event is conducive to promoting the integration of the Greater Bay Area and driving consumption upgrading, according to the Ministry of Commerce, who is putting on the event with the Guangdong provincial government and the liaison offices of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Customers can buy a variety of products online, such as mooncakes made in Hong Kong and home appliances manufactured in Guangdong.

The opening date of Sept 2 symbolizes the close relationship between the "9+2" urban cluster in the Greater Bay Area, which includes nine Guangdong cities as well as Hong Kong and Macao, according to the organizers.

The area, which boasts many homegrown brands, ranks among the most open and economically vibrant regions in China.

The event came ahead of the next two national holidays — the Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept 21 and National Day on Oct 1 — that focus on family reunions and are expected to stimulate consumption.