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E China city to launch second coupon package

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-24 18:52

HANGZHOU -- The government of Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, is planning to release a second batch of purchasing coupons in April to further boost the city's consumption, said an official on Tuesday.

Migrant workers wait outside the Hangzhou Migrant Labour Force Market for jobs in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, February 5, 2009. [Xinhua]

Hangzhou earlier distributed 100 million yuan (about US$14.28 million) in coupons to low-income citizens in January, prior to Chinese lunar new year.

Wang Guoping, secretary of the city's Committee of the Communist Party of China, said this 600 million worth yuan worth of coupons will be used in  sectors including tourism, social security, and education which the government wants most to boost.

However, the first batch of coupons distributed, which came from the city's financial department, have raised doubts about the legality of the government using money in coupons, and whether the coupon distribution would upset the city's economic balance.

Wang said that having taken the above doubts into consideration, the city government is considering encouraging citizens to subscribe to the second batch of coupons with their after-tax salary.

Quake-hit Chengdu in the southwest and the eastern city of Nanjing last month gave low-income residents coupons for shopping and entertainment.

These programs are part of a larger national effort to boost domestic consumption in response to the impact of the global economic downturn.