Shanghai's rollout of China's new digital product subsidy plan has ignited a surge in consumer demand, drawing positive market responses from retail stores, e-commerce platforms, and logistics firms across the city.
Since January 20, China has initiated subsidies for the trade-in of electronic products, expanding its consumer goods trade-in program to enhance consumption. This initiative offers consumers up to 500 yuan (almost 70 U.S. dollars) off the purchase of digital products.
Chen Chen, head of digital products at a home appliance store in Shanghai's Yanpu District said that store traffic has noticeably increased since the subsidy plan was rolled out.
"Since the national subsidy program started on Jan 20, our mobile phone sales have grown very significantly over the past month, with basically a year-on-year growth of 108 percent. The growth of computer products sales is probably even greater, about 280 percent from a year ago," explained Chen. The government's subsidy plan has fueled a surge in online sales of digital products, prompting e-commerce platforms and logistics companies to streamline their services.
"There are dedicated staff who deliver orders that enjoy subsidy support to customers. During the delivery process, the deliveryman can complete the order in one go by following the operation instructions on our mobile app," said Zhao Yadong, an operations manager at SF Express.
In late January, Shanghai announced detailed subsidy plans to encourage the renewal of home appliances and furnishings.
"This year, we have actively expanded the coverage. We have included four types of products such as water purifiers in the national home appliance subsidy program and included digital products like mobile phones in the national trade-in subsidy program. In addition, in accordance with the national policies on trade-ins for home decoration and other items, we have also included seven types of products in the local subsidy program," said Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.
Shanghai's appliance sales soar as trade-in program drives demand
Iran's UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani on Tuesday urged the UN secretary-general and the Security Council to condemn the United States for inciting violence and threatening to use force against his country.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Somali UN ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, who serves as the rotating president of the Security Council for January, Iravani accused U.S. President Donald Trump of openly inciting violence in Iran, citing Trump's post on social media platform Truth Social.
"This reckless statement explicitly encourages political destabilization, incites and invites violence, and threatens the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Iravani said in the letter.
He also called on the UN secretary-general and the Security Council "to fulfill their Charter-based responsibilities by unequivocally condemning all forms of incitement to violence, threats to use force, and interference" in Iran's internal affairs by the United States.
Iran is also urging all UN member states to refrain from provocative and irresponsible statements or actions that violate the UN Charter, including the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Iran, the letter said.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Iran's mission to the UN accused the U.S. of trying to stage "regime change" in the country, using sanctions, threats, engineered unrest and chaos to manufacture a pretext for military intervention.
With U.S. officials repeatedly threatening to intervene, Chief Commander of the Iranian Army Amir Hatami has stressed that the Iranian armed forces are in a state of full readiness, warning that any miscalculation by "enemies" would trigger a decisive response.
Iran's Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh has also said that the country will respond forcefully to any attack and "defend the country with full force and until the last drop of blood."
The United States virtual embassy in Iran on Tuesday urged U.S. citizens to leave the country.
According to media reports on Wednesday, the U.S. is withdrawing some of its personnel from its military bases in the Middle East as a precaution amid heightened regional tensions.
Qatar has also confirmed that personnel are departing U.S. bases there over "regional tensions."
Meanwhile, media reports quoted anonymous sources saying that Iran has warned neighboring countries hosting U.S. forces that U.S. military bases could be targeted if the U.S. intervenes in the ongoing unrests.
Iran calls on UN chief, Security Council to condemn U.S. for inciting violence
