China to increase support for equipment upgrades, consumer goods trade-in programs

China will significantly increase the issuance of ultra-long special treasury bonds in 2025 to support the implementation of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-in programs, said a government official at a press conference held in Beijing on Friday.

Yuan Da, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the government would expand the scope of areas eligible for funding support, including electronic information, production safety and agriculture facilities. Consumers will receive subsidies to purchase three categories of digital products: mobile phones, tablets, and smartwatches and wristbands.

The official said that the government will further increase subsidies for upgrading new energy city buses, batteries and agricultural machinery and strengthen support for renewing home decoration-related consumer goods.

In March 2024, the government launched an action plan to promote large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods as part of the efforts to boost domestic demand and support economic growth.

Yuan said that over the past year, work related to these programs has effectively shored up investment, boosted household consumption, and accelerated the green transition amid the booming sales of new energy vehicles and energy-efficient household appliances.

In the first 11 months of 2024, national investment in the purchase of equipment and appliances increased by 15.8 percent year on year, contributing 65.3 percent to the country's total investment growth.

In trade-in programs, more than 60 percent of the consumers chose to buy new energy vehicles, pushing China's market penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles to more than 50 percent for six consecutive months.

The country earmarked 300 billion yuan ($42 billion) in ultra-long special treasury bonds in 2024 to boost large-scale equipment renewals and consumer goods trade-in programs, according to Zhao Chenxin, deputy head of the NDRC.

"In 2025, we will increase the scale of funds, expand the coverage and optimize the methods in implementing these policies to amplify their impact. 

"We will work with relevant departments to let more residents and enterprises benefit from the policies through concrete actions," Zhao said.

(With input from Xinhua)