Hong Kong retailers have launched a campaign to get people to spend more than one-billion US dollars in tax rebates being distributed by the government.

The Financial Secretary offered a ten per-cent rebate on salary and profits tax last month to try to boost consumer spending and provide relief at a time of recession and rising unemployment.

Seven-hundred shops, hotels and restaurants are offering discounts of up to seventy per-cent to customers who produce tax rebate certificates. A BBC correspondent in Hong Kong says many retailers are struggling to survive because of the recession and a sharp decline in the number of tourists.