China's trade-in subsidy policy boosts home appliance sales

China's equipment trade-in subsidy policy introduced earlier this year has played a significant role in encouraging consumers to purchase smarter and more energy-efficient products, particularly home appliances.

China's State Council released an action plan in March to initiate large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-ins of consumer goods -- nearly 15 years since the last such round of renewals.

This policy, part of the Chinese government's green transition strategy, aims to encourage consumers to choose energy-efficient products.

During this year's Double Twelve (December 12) shopping festival, massive discounts coupled with the government's trade-in subsidy policy, have motivated many people to upgrade their home appliances.

"[We've come here] because we heard about the government subsidies. [The appliances] at home are old, so [we've decided] to replace them with new ones," said a resident.

"[I prefer purchasing home appliances] from physical stores. I just like to see the actual products -- things I can see and touch. And I don't want to buy [these kinds of items] online," said another resident.

Again in the second half of this year, the Chinese government introduced a trade-in policy allowing consumers to trade in old home appliances for new ones, offering subsidies for eight categories of products, including refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, as of December 7, nearly 3 million customers have purchased related products, driving sales to more than 200 billion yuan (about 27.5 billion U.S. dollars).

The greener and more energy-efficient the home appliances are, the greater discount consumers will enjoy. Besides, Jiangsu Province in east China's and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China have expanded the subsidy policy to include 3C digital products, such as computers and mobile phones.

"So far, nearly 300,000 residents in Beijing have already obtained eligibility for the country's trade-in subsidies through the Beijing Suning.com channel. In December, we anticipate that with the support of government subsidies and Suning's own discount and subsidy incentives, sales are expected to achieve a year-on-year growth of over 300 percent," said Wang Zhaotong, director of the Suning Consumer Electronics Sales and Procurement in Beijing.

With the continuous development of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, more and more consumers are willing to upgrade their home appliances to live a smarter life.

China's trade-in subsidy policy boosts home appliance sales

U.S. President Donald Trump's rollout of sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" may lead to global economic recession and will exacerbate inflation in the country, said a Spanish scholar.

Amid widespread opposition, Trump on Wednesday signed two executive orders, imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" on all imported goods and higher rates on certain trading partners.

Felix Valdivieso, a professor at IE Business School, told China Central Television (CCTV) that following the imposition of the tariffs, all consumers in the world will feel the pinch.

"These measures will have global economic impacts and may even lead to a recession. Analysts at Moody's Ratings have pointed out that these tariffs will drive up prices. Price increases will directly affect consumers' personal income and spending power, as well as their purchasing power," Valdivieso said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday announced his government will implement a 14.1 billion euro plan to support the economy in the face of Trump's tariffs.

He called the tariffs a "unilateral attack", saying they will harm the interests of people and businesses in both the EU and the United States itself, an opinion shared by Valdivieso.

"In other words, the U.S. is trying to make money by imposing tariffs, which will also drive up prices of domestic products. According to estimates by American analysts, the price of each car in the U.S. will go up by about 1,000 to 2,000 U.S. dollars after the tariffs are imposed. With car exports to the U.S. blocked, there will be two consequences for Europe. One is that Europe will have to find other markets to sell cars. The other is that it will have to bear the consequences of the decline in car sales in some way, so it has to reduce car production lines and lay off employees," he said.

Trump's tariffs may lead to global recession, exacerbate US inflation: Spanish scholar