China ready to join Russia, Mongolia for deeper trilateral cooperation: premier

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Wednesday that China is ready to work with Russia and Mongolia to further enhance mutual trust, strengthen coordination and promote deeper and more practical trilateral cooperation to better benefit the people of the three countries.

Li made the remarks when meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene on the sidelines of the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Islamabad, Pakistan.

China is willing to work with Russia and Mongolia to follow the consensus reached by the heads of state of the three countries, implement the medium-term roadmap for trilateral cooperation, enhance synergy of development strategies, deepen policy communication and coordination, and make the trilateral cooperation deeper, more sustainable and more effective, Li said.

China stands ready to work with Russia and Mongolia to focus on key cooperation within the framework of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor, deepen multilateral cooperation through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other platforms, share development opportunities and development achievements, and safeguard common interests, he said.

Mishustin and Oyun-Erdene said that Russia and Mongolia are willing to work with China to strengthen the synergy of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Steppe Road Program and the Belt and Road Initiative, and jointly accelerate the building of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor in accordance with the key priorities outlined in the medium-term roadmap for trilateral cooperation.

They also called for closer cooperation in transportation, energy, culture and other fields among the three countries.

China ready to join Russia, Mongolia for deeper trilateral cooperation: premier

China's ongoing trade-in program for home appliances has led to a surge in sales which topped 73.36 billion yuan (10.3 billion U.S. dollars) since August, the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, around 10.83 million consumers have benefited from the program for which the central government has provided more than 13.96 billion yuan in subsidies for consumers, the MOC said.

MOC data showed that green and smart home appliances are favored by consumers, with products labeled with top-level energy efficiency accounting for more than 90 percent of the sales volume during the period.

Regions such as Hubei Province, Chongqing and Shanghai municipalities, and the city of Shenzhen have expanded the categories of home appliances eligible for subsidies according to local conditions, incorporating green and intelligent products such as sweeping robots, dishwashers, air purifiers, and unmanned aerial vehicles, the ministry said.

In the next step, the ministry will continue to encourage various regions to speed up the implementation of subsidy policies and guide home appliance manufacturers as well as distribution companies to seize the consumption boom periods such as the Double Eleven online shopping festival to boost consumption under the trade-in program, it said.

The Double Eleven online shopping festival, also known as the Singles' Day shopping festival, is a Chinese version of Black Friday when discounts and sales promotions are usually offered for consumers in the month of November.

In a significant push to stimulate consumer spending, China has rolled out an expansive trade-in policy across multiple sectors since August.

China reports home appliance sales surge under trade-in program