Whetting buying sentiment prioritized

A raft of policies to boost consumption is in the pipeline, aiming to propel domestic demand to the forefront of economic expansion, particularly benefiting sectors like household appliances, electronics as well as intelligent and low-carbon equipment, said experts on Wednesday.

The remarks were made following the delivery of the Government Work Report during the ongoing two sessions, which underscored the imperative to invigorate consumption, optimize investment efficacy and comprehensively broaden domestic demand.

The report said that ultra-long term special treasury bonds totaling 300 billion yuan ($41.3 billion) will be issued to support consumer goods trade-in programs, which involve replacing outdated consumer goods with newer, greener alternatives.

Concurrently, there will be a push to incentivize increased private capital engagement in significant infrastructure ventures, social welfare enhancements and other domains to foster a more conducive environment for private capital growth.

Shen Danyang, head of the group that drafted the report and director of the Research Office of the State Council, elaborated on the key points of the document after its release.

"The prevailing contradiction in the current economic landscape stems from insufficient overall demand, while external environment shifts may introduce novel challenges to external demand. Redirecting our focus toward bolstering domestic demand to elevate consumption is paramount," Shen said.

He said plans are underway to implement a specialized action agenda to stimulate consumption, with relevant departments currently formulating the blueprint. Additionally, there will be intensified service sector investments, government-led initiatives to propel private investment and active encouragement of investment from the private sector.

"I visited 218 companies last year and the biggest challenge facing entrepreneurs was where to find markets," said Tang Dongsheng, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

"Last year's policy greatly boosted demand in sectors such as home appliances. This year, the policy will further expand its scope, covering more electronic products, consumption of smart devices, and intelligent and low-carbon equipment. It will also to some extent drive the development of the circular economy, such as the growth of used-goods trading platforms like Xianyu," he said.

Over the past year, the volume of used good trading orders on the Xianyu platform increased by nearly 50 percent year-on-year, as some consumers purchased new products at subsidized prices, and then resold used ones on Xianyu at prices higher than used items' buyback price.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, in 2024, more than 36 million consumers purchased over 56 million household appliances under the trade-in policy, driving sales of 240 billion yuan.

Zhang Tianren, chairman of battery maker Tianneng Group, and also a deputy to the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, highlighted the report's propositions for enhancing policies related to taxation for renewed resources, targeting industry pain points to further invigorate the circular economy's market vitality.