Trade-in push to boost sales of green energy devices

China's latest push to support large-scale equipment upgrades and the consumer goods trade-in program this year will further stimulate consumers' appetite for purchasing home appliances and digital products, bolster consumption growth and inject strong impetus into the country's economic growth, said industry experts and company executives.

The comments were made as the country recently unveiled policies regarding the home appliance trade-in subsidy program, along with incentives for the purchase of digital and smart devices to expand domestic demand and boost consumption.

Authorities have allocated 62.5 billion yuan ($8.96 billion) in ultra-long special treasury bond funds in advance to support this year's program.

According to a notice issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, individual consumers purchasing energy — and water-efficient household appliances, such as refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, air conditioners, computers and water heaters, will be eligible for a subsidy equal to 15 percent of the product's sales price, with the maximum subsidy capped at 1,500 yuan per item.

In addition, subsidies will cover certain digital and smart products, including mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smart bands and smart glasses, priced at no more than 6,000 yuan each. For these products, subsidies will be capped at 500 yuan per item.

Guo Meide, president of market research company All View Cloud (AVC), said the consumer goods trade-in program will further spur people's willingness to replace their old household appliances with new ones and encourage enterprises to bolster technological innovation and accelerate product upgrades, thus promoting high-end, intelligent and green transformation.

Guo said the latest policy measures are of great importance for effectively shoring up consumer confidence and sentiment, unleashing consumption potential and promoting the sustained recovery of the economy, given that shoppers can enjoy steep discounts and subsidies by taking part in the program.

China's large-scale equipment upgrade and consumer goods trade-in program, which kicked off in 2024, has yielded fruitful results. Data from the Ministry of Commerce show that sales of consumer goods under the trade-in program exceeded 2.6 trillion yuan last year, benefiting over 360 million people.

Specifically, more than 129 million home appliances, and over 91 million digital products, 120 million home decoration, kitchen and bathroom items were purchased through the trade-in program in 2025, according to the ministry.

Hong Yong, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said, "The 'old-for-new' program is conducive to weeding out consumer goods with high energy consumption and declining performance, promoting the popularization of green and energy-saving home appliances, and improving people's quality of life."

The subsidies for the purchase of digital and smart products will stimulate the enthusiasm of people for scrapping their old devices and buying new ones, Hong said, adding that the trade-in program will boost the development of dismantling, recycling and reusing industries.

According to a report released by AVC, environmentally friendly and energy-saving home appliance products, such as air conditioners and gas stoves, are increasingly favored by Chinese consumers, while the sales of intelligent household appliances that apply artificial intelligence-powered large language models have witnessed robust growth.

Jia Shaoqian, chairman of Chinese home appliance manufacturer Hisense Group, said, "The implementation of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins represents a key direction for boosting the development of the circular economy, and is crucial for speeding up the formation of green production and lifestyles," adding that the trade-in program has stimulated the consumer market and bolstered consumption upgrades.

He noted that 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.

The policy measures aimed at boosting trade-ins of consumer goods will effectively stimulate purchasing enthusiasm among consumers for home appliances, and promote the transformation and upgrade of the traditional white goods sector, said Zhou Yunjie, chairman and CEO of Chinese home appliances giant Haier Group.

fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn