Foreign and domestic businesses opened a total of 121 new flagship stores at major shopping centers in Shenzhen in the first half of the year as the city’s consumption made a strong recovery from the COVID pandemic.

According to Winshang, an industry data provider, these new stores are all “first stores,” which means they are the first stores opened by these businesses in Shenzhen or in South China or even in China.

Out of the 121 new stores, 40 are first in China and 34 in Shenzhen, signifying that the city has still retained its strong appeal to both foreign and domestic businesses, according to Winshang.

With its excellent commercial infrastructure and strong purchasing power, Shenzhen has become one of the preferred locations for major brands to make inroads into the Chinese, South China and Guangdong markets.

In the first half of the year, 38 internationally renowned brand flagship stores were launched, accounting for 31% of the new stores. This includes 31 international retail brands, three internationally renowned food and beverage brands and two hotel brands. Among them, 12 were opened in the first quarter and 26 in the second quarter.

Futian continued to lead the city with a total of 40 stores, followed closely by Nanshan with 36. Luohu came in a distant third with 19, while Bao'an, Longhua and Longgang districts welcomed 11, 9 and 6 new stores respectively. "Futian and Nanshan have taken advantage of having a large number of high-end shopping malls, making them the preferred choices for many brands to hit the Shenzhen market," Shenzhen Economic News quoted unnamed industry analysts as saying Aug. 12.

Shopping centers are the "preferred locations" for the businesses to open their first new stores. In the first half of the year, a total of 31 shopping centers in Shenzhen lured at least one flagship store each, with 16 shopping centers attracting two or more first new stores.

The key areas for flagship store openings are Futian’s CBD commercial district, Nanshan’s Houhai commercial district, Luohu’s Caiwuwei commercial district, Longhua’s international commercial district and Bao'an’s central commercial district.

These new stores have centered on catering, clothing, fashion and lifestyle sectors. Among them, fashion and lifestyle account for 24% of first stores, followed by clothing at 18% and leisure dining at 13%, Winshang data show.

First store and brand economies, an important index reflecting business innovation and a city’s influence, now play a driving role in stimulating consumption in China.

In recent years, Shenzhen has been introducing measures to boost the "first store economy."

Renowned global brands that open their flagship shops in Shenzhen will receive a reward of 1 million yuan (US$138,100), and if the shop in Shenzhen is the first of its kind in China or in South China, the rewards will be 600,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan respectively, according to a plan unveiled by Shenzhen’s commerce bureau on expanding consumption in 2021.

In April in 2021, Shenzhen unveiled measures on building international consumption centers. Among the measures, property owners that introduced flagship shops of renowned domestic and global brands will receive rewards of 500,000 yuan for retail outlets, or 200,000 yuan for catering outlets.

The reward for a property owner or operator will be no more than three million yuan a year. For the product launching or shop launching activities of renowned brands in Shenzhen, the government will give subsidies at 30% of the actual cost but capped at 3 million yuan.