More consumption incentives needed

Heightened efforts are needed to allow more households in townships and counties to enjoy consumption-friendly subsidies from the consumer goods trade-in program, and reinforce the dominant position of enterprises in technological innovation, said Jia Shaoqian, chairman of Chinese home appliance manufacturer Hisense Group.

"The country's consumer goods trade-in program has not only stimulated the consumer market and bolstered consumption upgrades, but also greatly promoted the popularity of green and energy-saving products while improving people's quality of life," said Jia, who is also a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

In the fourth quarter of last year, sales of Hisense's home appliances surged more than 30 percent year-on-year fueled by the trade-in program, Jia said, adding that high-quality and intelligent products with high energy efficiency are increasingly favored by Chinese shoppers.

More efforts are needed to allow more small and medium-sized businesses in counties and townships to take part in the trade-in program to further unleash the consumption potential of low-tier markets, Jia said, while calling for supporting sales of new products containing innovative technologies.

China's large-scale equipment upgrade and consumer goods trade-in program, which kicked off last March, yielded fruitful results in 2024. Data from the National Development and Reform Commission showed that more than 37 million consumers purchased over 62 million home appliances last year, with total sales reaching 270 billion yuan ($37.1 billion). Products with the highest level of energy efficiency accounted for over 90 percent of total sales revenue.

The country announced in January a raft of measures to expand the scope of the consumer goods trade-in program amid a broader drive to boost domestic demand and spur economic growth.

Moreover, Jia said the key to developing new quality productive forces lies in strengthening the dominant position of enterprises in sci-tech innovation, and promoting the deep integration of sci-tech and industrial innovation.

The tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference held in December urged efforts to make sci-tech innovation drive the development of new quality productive forces and better build the nation's modern industrial system.

To boost the country's self-reliance and strength in science and technology, Jia said more emphasis should be placed on original innovation and promoting the industrial application of innovative achievements.

He also suggested supporting enterprises in leading major national projects and key research and development programs, as well as establishing a differentiated enterprise laboratories' evaluation system, to further stimulate the innovative vitalities of enterprises through institutional innovation.

Li Xianjun, an associate researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China's efforts in developing new quality productive forces will help make the economy more resilient, improve the resilience of its industrial and supply chains, strengthen the capacity to buffer against external risks and shocks, and build the country into a manufacturing powerhouse.

More efforts should be made to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, including basic materials and software, precision components, integrated circuits and high-end equipment, to enhance China's independent innovation capacity, Li said.

Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee for Information and Communication Economy, which is part of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, underlined the importance of stepping up support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and further optimizing the business environment, given that enterprises have played a leading part in driving technological innovation.