The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce yesterday announced that from January to April this year, a total of 489 new first stores were established in the city. Among them, there were three global or Asia-first stores and 55 national or mainland China first stores, with high-level first stores accounting for 11.9% of the total, reaching a new high in both scale and quality. To support leading domestic and international brands in opening high-level first stores in Shanghai, the Municipal Commission of Commerce offered a one-time reward of 1 million RMB ($140,000) for global or Asia-first stores in April. Additionally, a one-time reward of 1.2 million RMB ($168,000) is offered for global or Asia-first stores opened during the Debut in Shanghai event.