On the evening of September 29, the Supply and Demand Matchmaking Event for ICV and Smart Home Appliance and Opening of Third China (Sichuan) International Panda Consumption Festival, with the theme "A Better Life, Relax in Sichuan", officially commenced in Chengdu. Wang Xiaohui, Secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of Sichuan Provincial People's Congress, and Shi Xiaolin, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Governor of the People's Government of Sichuan Province, attended the launch event.

The Panda Consumption Festival is an important functional platform and major symbolic event for the province to promote consumer spending in all domains and to advance higher-standard opening up. Centering around the year-long program to stimulate consumption, the provincial Party committee and the provincial government innovatively initiated the Supply and Demand Matchmaking Event for ICV and Smart Home Appliance and Third China (Sichuan) International Panda Consumption Festival. This represents a concrete step by the provincial authorities to effectively implement the plans and decisions of the Party Central Committee and the State Council aimed at stimulating consumption and expanding domestic demand. The initiative is of great significance for boosting consumer demand, stimulating market vitality, better benefiting people's wellbeing, and continuously consolidating and building momentum for economic recovery and growth. This year's Panda Consumption Festival is co-organized by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Media Group (CMG), and the People's Government of Sichuan Province. The festival spotlights the trade-in programs for consumer goods, incorporates developing and serving new consumption, cultivating green and new quality, integrating international new elements, and distributing new benefits packages, and has attracted 28,900 consumer service operators across the province to actively participate.

During the evening's launch event, the province's third batch of ten brands selected as China's Time-Honored Brands was announced on-site, and additionally, "Relax in Sichuan, Tianfu Gifts" consumption vouchers for five categories of Sichuan characteristic products were released, including Sichuan's alcohol beverages, cuisine, tea, silk, and medicinal herbs. Representatives from relevant enterprises distributed the "Relax in Sichuan" consumer benefit packages, covering the three major areas of home goods, home appliances, and automobiles, with a total value of discounts reaching 1.6 billion yuan. Subsequently, representatives from enterprises, business associations, and consumer groups collectively activated the launch device, formally kicking off the Supply and Demand Matchmaking Event for ICV and Smart Home Appliance and Third China (Sichuan) International Panda Consumption Festival.

During the Consumption Festival, the province will allocate 400 million yuan in financial resources to issue a series of consumption vouchers, carry out activities such as trade-ins of consumer goods and supply-demand matchmaking events to boost consumption, and motivate more than 10,000 business operators to offer various promotional activities including discounts, cashback offers, and more, in a bid to create a strong consumer atmosphere and ignite a surge in upgraded consumption, thus ensuring that consumers genuinely benefit from the advantages offered by the Consumption Festival. Additionally, the province will unveil 40 newly selected "Relax in Sichuan" new consumer scenarios for 2024, spanning ten categories: Trendy Shopping, Vibrant Tianfu Nights, Delectable Sichuan Cuisine, Serene Countryside, Harmonious Neighborhoods, Enchanting Sichuan Tours, Digital Living, Futuristic Automobile Enjoyment, Dynamic Fitness, and Happy Wellness. This collection aims to create a "heat map" of Sichuan's vibrant consumer landscape.

Also in attendance were Fan Yun, deputy editor-in-chief of CMG; provincial leaders Cao Lijun, Chen Wei, and Zuo Yongxiang; Wang Fengchao, Mayor of Chengdu Municipal People's Government; Wu Yabin, Head of UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office in Beijing; officials from some foreign consulates general in Chengdu; heads of international (overseas) economic and trade promotion organizations in Sichuan; major officials from relevant departments and bureaus of the Ministry of Commerce, as well as the commerce authorities of Chongqing Municipality, Guizhou Provinces, and other provinces and cities; persons in charge from various cities (prefectures), relevant provincial departments, certain central institutions in Sichuan, and state-owned enterprises supervised by provincial SASAC; and representatives of some enterprises and consumer service operators, among others.