Cultural and creative products are on sale in Gongshu district, Hangzhou on May 5. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]

Zhejiang's retail sector thrived during the five-day May Day holiday. According to the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, sales from 440 key retailers reached 2.22 billion yuan ($307 million), up 2.2 percent year-on-year.

Broader transaction data from UnionPay showed offline consumption soared to 60.32 billion yuan, a 6.5 percent increase.

Local governments used the holiday window to roll out overlapping campaigns, pushing trade-in upgrades for cars and home appliances. Car sales at 87 monitored dealers rose 12.1 percent while appliance sales at 22 stores surged 68.2 percent. Revenue from 3,000 tracked food businesses hit 270 million yuan, up 3.6 percent.

China unveiled a set of measures on April 27 to further optimize its departure tax refund policy to meet overseas tourists' needs better and expand inbound consumption.

The minimum purchase threshold for departure tax refunds has been lowered, allowing overseas travelers to apply for a refund if they spend at least 200 yuan (about $27.75) at the same store on the same day.

During the holiday, Zhejiang saw a 22.4 percent jump in duty-free spending across 448 shops.