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E-mail China.org.cn, February 20, 2025
21st Century Business Herald:
The annual Central Economic Work Conference proposed vigorously boosting consumption and comprehensively expanding domestic demand. What positive progress was made in consumer goods trade-in programs in 2024? What other initiatives is MOFCOM considering to boost consumption in 2025? Thank you.
Li Yongjie:
I would like to invite Mr. Li to answer these questions.
Li Gang:
Thank you for your questions. Consumption is a key engine of economic growth, a crucial link in smoothing domestic circulation, and a direct reflection of people's needs for a better life. In 2024, MOFCOM faithfully implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council by advancing consumer goods trade-in programs, promoting high-quality development of service consumption, and launching "Consumption Promotion Year" activities to expand consumption. In the first 11 months, total retail sales of consumer goods reached 44.3 trillion yuan, up 3.5% from a year earlier. In particular, consumer goods trade-in programs have achieved positive results. According to preliminary statistics, more than 6.8 million cars were traded in nationwide in 2024. Through trade-in programs, over 36 million consumers purchased more than 56 million home appliances across eight categories. Additionally, approximately 60 million subsidized housing renovations and kitchen and bathroom products were sold, and more than 1.38 million electric bicycles were traded in for new ones. Sales of related products driven by consumer goods trade-in programs exceeded 1.3 trillion yuan. Trade-in programs have generated new consumption momentum, promoted green recycling and enhanced quality of life.
The Central Economic Work Conference emphasized the need to strongly boost consumption and expand domestic demand across all sectors. The Ministry of Commerce will earnestly implement and advance targeted initiatives to boost consumption and unlock consumer potential. We will focus on five key areas.
First, we will strengthen efforts to expand the consumer goods trade-in program to build a stable foundation for consumption. Recently, the central government earmarked an initial 81 billion yuan for the consumer goods trade-in program in 2025. This week, we will release implementation guidelines for the 2025 trade-in program, covering automobiles, home appliances, furniture, and electric bicycles, as well as subsidies for the purchase of mobile phones and other digital products. Next, we will streamline policy implementation procedures and enhance policy interpretation to help consumers better understand and access these benefits.
Second, we will expand consumption of consumer services and optimize the overall consumption structure. In 2024, the State Council unveiled a guideline on advancing the high-quality development of service consumption, with the Ministry of Commerce taking the lead in building a "1+N" policy framework for service consumption. Next, we will implement a comprehensive set of policies and launch initiatives to enhance service quality for public benefit. In collaboration with relevant departments, we will strengthen support policies in key sectors and organize promotional events such as the Service Consumption Season and Chinese Cuisine Festival. We will also promote the orderly opening up of sectors like telecommunications, education and health care. These efforts aim to enrich service offerings and better meet the public's growing demand for services.
Third, we will develop innovative consumption promotion activities to create a consumer-friendly environment. Together with local governments, we will organize diverse consumer promotion activities that appeal to the public, focusing on key time periods and product categories while integrating online and offline channels. Recently, we launched events, including a time-honored brands carnival and an online New Year goods festival to meet public demand during the New Year and Spring Festival shopping season. After the holiday, we will host additional promotions, including a consumption promotion month. We welcome everyone to stay tuned.
Fourth, we will foster and develop new forms of consumption to bring out greater vitality. We will guide local authorities to develop debut economy suited to their local conditions, actively promote digital, green and health-related consumption, create diverse consumption scenarios, and cultivate new growth drivers in consumer spending.
Fifth, we will enhance consumption conditions and optimize the consumption environment. We will accelerate the development of international consumption center cities and create a more welcoming international consumer environment. We will promote the renovation of pedestrian streets and commercial district facilities, modernize business operations, enhance services for elderly and child care, and develop 15-minute community life circles. We will intensify the implementation of the three-year action plan aimed at strengthening the nation's county-level commerce system, advance the renovation and upgrading of "thousands of markets and tens of thousands of stores," and continuously facilitate consumption for urban and rural residents. We will also advance the development of a unified national market and create a favorable consumption environment. Thank you.
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