Tang Guifa, general manager of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), said the venue holds a night market during weekends in June and will resume exhibitions in July.

The popular marketing tool of livestreaming is being adopted as an instrument to promote the fair.

Social media sites Meituan Dianping, Bilibili and Xiaohongshu have all jumped on the livestreaming bandwagon, hoping to play a part in helping merchants convert online traffic to offline sales.

"Teaming up with 1,000 influencers and 4,000 brands, we will be giving out over 100 million yuan ($14 million) worth of shopping vouchers in various forms during the campaign," Xiaohongshu partner Zeng Xiulian said.

She said influencers shopping in the stores and marketplaces will share their experiences and insights online. By influencing others, they could help boost consumption and complete the online-to-offline cycle.