China's massive home appliance subsidy program is driving record-breaking electronics sales, while enhancing the country's position as a leading semiconductor consumer and display manufacturer.
The country implemented its new subsidy policy in January 2025, allocating over 40 billion U.S. dollars for home appliance subsidies throughout the year. The maximum subsidy is 2,000 yuan (about 300 U.S. dollars) per product category.
The investment has yielded significant results. According to an electronic products retailer in Shanghai, as of July this year, his business has seen a sales increase of over 60 percent for large-size TVs, a 47 percent increase for cellphones, and a 130 percent increase for computers year-on-year.
"The total sales of '3C' products (computers, communications, and consumer electronics), including computers and cellphones, have increased about 120 percent compared to last year, which is huge. The increase in computers is notably 140 percent," said Zhao Hongfu, store manager of the Shanghai Changning Road branch of Suning, one of China's largest electric appliance retailers.
The strong rise in consumption has further boosted China’s semiconductor and display market, attracting leading global enterprises in related sectors to deepen their cooperation with China.
"Such a policy is definitely helping quite significantly the overall electric industries. That's certainly, I think, from a kind of demand point of view. I'm very glad to see that the industry in China, concerning this particularly, is still very dynamic. As you know, China is definitely representing more than half of the total supply of this in the world, and we see, definitely, a lot of dynamics," said Damien Tuleu, executive vice president of Merck Electronics, a multinational giant headquartered in Germany.
China's home appliance subsidies boost consumption, attract foreign investments
