China's contribution to global green development recognized by world: CGTN poll

China's new energy industry has made major contributions to world's green development, and has won recognition of global people, according to a recent opinion poll conducted by China Global Television Network (CGTN).

The survey, released on CGTN's English, Spanish, Arabic, French and Russian channels, came amidst concerns about "overcapacity" in China's new energy products as China's new energy vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products enjoying surging popularity worldwide.

Within 24 hours, a total of 5,470 overseas netizens participated in the survey and expressed their opinions.

According to the survey, 88.62 percent of global respondents recognized the contribution of China's new energy industry to the world economy and global green development, believing that the advantages of China's new energy industry are shaped by sufficient market competition, rather than by government subsidies.

The survey showed that 84.86 percent of global respondents believe that there is still huge demand and potential for new energy technologies and products in the global market, indicating "overcapacity" baseless, and 86.05 percent of the respondents believe that production capacity is determined by the relationship between supply and demand, and production capacity moderately greater than demand is conducive to full competition. According to the survey, 85.71 percent of the respondents believe that accelerating technological innovation and fully stimulating market competition are the keys to promoting the healthy and rapid development of the new energy industry, and 88.46 percent of the respondents believe different countries have different comparative advantages under globalization, and strengthening cooperation is the key to solving problems.

In addition, 77.41 percent of the respondents believe that bundling the new energy industry with protectionism will weaken the global efforts in addressing climate change, 91.93 percent of the respondents said that the healthy development of the global new energy field should be based on fair and reasonable international rules and regulations, and 83.87 percent of the respondents hold the idea that production capacity is an economic issue and should not be politicized.

China's contribution to global green development recognized by world: CGTN poll

Customers in Shanghai are flooding back to brick and mortar stores to upgrade their home appliances thanks to advances in energy efficiency and the availability of subsidies offered by local government, home appliance brands and retailers.

A store in Shanghai's downtown Changning District has welcomed an average of 2,800 customers on a daily basis in recent days.

Labels on some home appliances show that customers have access to a 10 percent subsidy as long as the products they buy are energy efficient.

"With this 10-percent subsidy, I decided to make offline purchase at this store. It's cheaper after all," said one customer.

This 10 percent subsidy is offered by the Shanghai government to boost consumption.

Retailers are also offering subsidies, further driving up consumption.

"If a customer is buying a product with grade one energy label, while at the same time has an old machine for replacement, the customer can enjoy a 10 percent subsidy from the government. And our platform and the manufacturer together offer a 10 percent subsidy for trade-in goods. And we are also offering an additional seven to eight percent subsidy for sets, and a five percent subsidy for single items. So the customer can generally get a 35 to 40 percent subsidy," said Yang Xu, procurement and sales manager with a Shanghai branch of China's e-commerce giant JD.com.

Noticeably, people are willing to buy more products, especially more high-end models.

"Things are now cheaper. So I have money left for high-end products. I've spent 20,000 yuan (about 2,764 U.S. dollars) here. In the past, I would not choose a refrigerator of more than 13,000 yuan (about 1796 U.S. dollars). I would only buy one with half its price. And I was not planning to buy a TV. But now, I've decided to buy one," said one customer.

Boosting consumption is just one upside of such trade-in programs. Replacing old machines with more energy efficient models also aligns with the country's carbon reduction goals.

China has pledged to achieve peak carbon emissions by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2060.

Home appliances trade-in programs boost consumption, protect environment