China's street vending economy, where people set up street stalls as full or part-time jobs, continues to heat up this summer, and the sector is helping drive economic growth after the COVID-19 pandemic increasingly comes under control in nation.

Alipay said that more than 12 million small shops and roadside stalls across the country achieved year-on-year growth for the 12 months ending in May. Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen had the largest number of such stores seeing revenue rebounds.