In the first quarter, Yichang achieved total retail sales of consumer goods of 55.554 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. As a national pilot city for the lottery invoice program, Yichang channeled 140 million yuan of central government support funds directly to the consumer market. Of this, 70.8156 million yuan was allocated to the lottery invoice campaign, which stimulated 2.2 billion yuan in consumption.

　　During the quarter, Yichang held over 280 consumption-promoting events and issued 10 million yuan in auto purchase vouchers and 1 million yuan in dining subsidies. Over the Spring Festival holiday, 11 large commercial complexes reported sales of 192 million yuan, an increase of about 8% year on year; during the Qingming Festival holiday, sales reached 68.2 million yuan, up 6%. Besides, a total of 698 newly designated legal enterprises above the designated size were added, placing Yichang among the top in Hubei Province in terms of total number. (Sanxia Daily: Reporter/Yang Chunyan, Correspondent/Liao Tianqi)