Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday met with the Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Jean-Claude Gakosso, saying that China is willing to work with the Republic of the Congo to safeguard each other's core interests.
At the meeting in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said China is willing to work with the Republic of the Congo to safeguard each other's core interests and consolidate political mutual trust, promote the upgrading of economic and trade cooperation, and strengthen exchanges on state governance.
Gakosso, who came to China for the Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), said the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) brings hope for Africa to break free from the vicious cycle of poverty and backwardness and achieve independent development, and the Republic of the Congo will continue to actively participate in the BRI and firmly abide by the one-China principle.
China willing to work with Republic of Congo to safeguard each other's core interests: FM
Nearly 75 million people across China have benefited from the country's new trade-in program effective since the beginning of 2026, according to the Ministry of Finance on Friday.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, officials from the Ministry of Finance briefed on China's fiscal revenue and expenditure in the first quarter of 2026.
Regarding the consumer goods trade-in program, it had generated 540 billion yuan (about 79 billion U.S. dollars) in sales as of April 19, according to the latest official data released by the Ministry of Finance.
China has allocated a total of 125 billion yuan (18.24 billion U.S. dollars) raised from the issuance of ultra-long special treasury bonds in two batches to support the new trade-in program.
Apart from the unified subsidy policy nationwide, local authorities are also able to roll out their own subsidy policies to further stimulate consumption potentials.
"Under the trade-in program, the sales of new energy passenger cars priced at 200,000 yuan (29,255 U.S. dollars) or higher per unit increased by 5 percent year on year in the first quarter. More digital and smart products have been covered by the trade-in program, which has made them a new hotspot for this year's trade-in program. This led to a 20.8-percent year-on-year growth in retail sales of telecommunications equipment above the designated size in the January-March period," said Wu Gai, deputy director of the Department of Economic Construction with the Ministry of Finance.
Early this year, the Ministry of Finance launched a lottery invoice pilot program across about 50 cities nationwide with a subsidy of 10 billion yuan (1.46 billion U.S. dollars), covering major consumer sectors such as retail, catering, culture and tourism, and sports.
By the end of April 19, 3.68 billion yuan (538.3 million U.S. dollars) worth of lottery invoices had been distributed, driving sales of approximately 160 billion yuan (23.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the related sectors. About 410 million people had received scratch-and-win receipts, with 170 million winning prizes.
China’s new trade-in program benefits nearly 75 million people in 2026
