China is witnessing a booming consumer market nationwide ahead of the Spring Festival thanks to the announcement of an expaned consumer goods trade-in policy last week.
China announced on Wednesday a raft of measures to expand consumer goods trade-in program amid a drive to boost domestic demand and spur economic growth.
The number of home appliance categories eligible for government subsidies will be increased from eight in 2024 to 12 in 2025. Microwaves, water purifiers, dishwashers and rice cookers will be added to the trade-in list for home appliances.
In response to actual needs, the number of air conditioners eligible for subsidies per consumer will be increased from one to three.
Major cities like Shanghai and Shenzhou kicked off their trade-in program for 2025 on the New Year's Day.
With this year's Spring Festival just weeks away, home appliance stores in Changxing County, east China's Zhejiang Province, have been crowded with customers who are flocking to buy such products as new energy vehicles and home appliances with attractive price cuts.
In Changxing, customers are enjoying price cuts jointly given by the national trade-in programs and discounts from dealers.
"Originally, the home appliance costs about 1,200 to 1,300 yuan (about 164 to 177 U.S. dollars) and now the buyers can enjoy price cut of about 200 to 300 yuan (about 27 to 41 U.S. dollars)," said a customer surnamed Lvy.
Increasing home appliances have also been added to the trade-in program with new products like large diameter washing machine and face recognition smart door lock being included to meet various demands of customers.
In Shangrao City, east China's Jiangxi Province, automobile buyers raced to pick the vehicles they like, with some of them saying they were encouraged to buy new cars by the new purchase policies and subsidies for recycling scrap vehicles.
"I have an old car which can enjoy the subsidy for recycling scrap vehicle. I will be given 20,000 yuan (about 2,728 U.S. dollars) in national subsidy and 6,000 yuan (about 818 U.S. dollars) in subsidy from the car manufacturer. In total, I can save 26,000 yuan (about 3,546 U.S. dollars) if I buy a new car, which is a big price cut to me," said Song Yi, a customer.
Trade-in programs played a significant role in boosting consumption in 2024. Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that by Dec 31 last year, customers bought 56 million home appliances of eight general categories, generating sales of over 240 billion yuan (about 33 billion U.S. dollars).
The data also showed that in 2024, over 2.9 million scrap vehicles were recycled and over 3.7 million auto trade-ins were reported, generating auto sales of over 920 billion yuan (over 125 billion U.S. dollars).
China's expanded trade-in policy further fuels consumer spending ahead of Spring Festival
