China has allocated 81 billion yuan (about 11.04 billion U.S. dollars) in subsidies for the country's trade-in promotion for 2025, said an official from the Ministry of Finance in Beijing on Wednesday. Fu Jinling, director of the Department of Economic Construction at the Chinese Ministry of Finance, said the ministry has expanded its subsidy program to cover a wider range of sectors and has also raised the funding standards for areas with significant financial needs and high public interest
"For instance, we will expand the support for equipment restoration to more fields like electronic information, production safety, and facility agriculture. We will expand the categories of home appliance products eligible for trade-in subsidies from eight to 12, and introduce new subsidies for purchasing new digital products such as mobile phones. We also raised the standards for subsidies for new energy public buses and power battery renewals, with the average subsidy per bus increased from 60,000 yuan (about 8,183.53 U.S. dollars) to 80,000 yuan (over 10,900 U.S. dollars)," said Fu.
By the end of 2024, China's central government had exhausted its 150 billion yuan (approximately $20.45 billion USD) allocation for trade-in consumption.
The Ministry of Finance also allocated another 150 billion yuan (about 20.45 billion U.S. dollars) for large-scale equipment restoration to local governments across the country, with the use clearly defined for specific projects.
China allocates 81 bln yuan for 2025 trade-in subsidies
The successful election of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) marked an important achievement in further consolidating and developing high-quality democracy in the region, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said on Monday.
The spokesperson said that the election was successfully held on Sunday in a safe, orderly and smooth manner, adding that voter turnout in the Election Committee subsectors, functional constituencies, and geographical constituencies all recorded significant increases from the previous election, fully reflecting public sentiment in Hong Kong.
The spokesperson noted that as the election entered the campaigning stage, a sudden fire incident in Tai Po inflicted serious trauma on Hong Kong. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the HKSAR government, various sectors of society and the broad electorate, the election was carried out with complete success.
It fully demonstrated Hong Kong society's unity, resilience, and determination to overcome difficulties, and highlighted the advancement and strengths of the new electoral system under the full implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson said the newly elected members of the Legislative Council are all patriots who love the country and Hong Kong, and are capable, committed and dedicated to serving the community. They have won broad recognition and support from voters.
The spokesperson added that it is hoped and believed that the new-term legislators will fully, faithfully and unswervingly implement the "one country, two systems" policy, always uphold national sovereignty, security and development interests as the top priority, and promote Hong Kong's better integration into and contribution to the country's overall development.
Successful election of HKSAR's 8th-term LegCo of milestone significance: State Council spokesperson
