CBN丨China to expand scope of consumer goods trade-ins

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

• China will boost funds from treasury bonds to support trade-in program;
• More than 3,600 global business leaders are attending Asian Financial Forum in HK next week.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

China will expand the scope of consumer goods trade-in program, and increase funding support for equipment upgrades through loan interest discounts, the country's economic planner said on Wednesday, as the world’s second-largest economy is deepening efforts to boost domestic demand.

The total scale of the ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to support the replacement of existing equipment and devices will “increase significantly” compared to last year, the National Development and Reform Commission said on Wednesday.

Support will be expanded to cover more areas including electronic information and protected agriculture, with focuses on high-end, intelligent and green equipment, it said.

In 2024, China allocated 300 billion yuan out of the proceeds from the ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to subsidize the trade-ins. 

To ensure the delivery of subsidies, the central government has recently earmarked 81 billion yuan for the consumer goods trade-in program this year, said the Ministry of Finance.

Meanwhile, in response to actual needs, the number of air conditioners eligible for subsidies per consumer will be increased from one to three. 

The state economic planner also introduced that home appliances enjoying subsidies for trade-in, increased from 8 categories last year to 12 categories, with a maximum subsidy of 20 percent of the sales price for a single piece. 

The NDRC also repeated that the subsidies for new digital products such as smartphones will be rolled out again, to “especially meet the public demand”.

Each consumer will be offered a subsidy of 15 percent of the selling prices when buying smartphones, tablets and smart bracelets, while the eligible products should not be sold higher than 6,000 yuan per piece. Each consumer is allowed to only one piece of each eligible product type, with the subsidy of up to 500 yuan per device.

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

• More than 3,600 financial and business heavyweights from around the world will gather in Hong Kong to attend the 18th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) on Jan 13 to14 to explore global investment trends, challenges and opportunities. Themed “Powering the Next Growth Engine”, the region’s first major international business gathering in 2025 will focus on analyzing business growth points, artificial intelligence (AI), the establishment of family offices, green and sustainable development, and Islamic finance, with the aims of stimulating growth momentum and promoting global cooperation amid a shifting global economic landscape.
• China’s State Council has given the all-clear for a new international airport in Guangdong to ease congestion and help the region become an international cargo hub. The new facility will serve cities west of the provincial capital Guangzhou, diverting flights from three other airports in the Pearl River Delta area. The Pearl River Delta Hub (Guangzhou New) Airport, slated to start operations in 2028, plans for a yearly throughput of 30 million trips in 2035 and twice that flow by 2050, according to the province’s official website.
• The Airport Authority of Hong Kong sold HKD18.5 billion of bonds in the largest-ever issuance in the financial hub’s local currency.  The 3-year, 5-year, 10-year and 30-year notes are priced with yieldings of 4.05 percent, 4.1 percent, 4.25 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively, late Tuesday. The notes received HKD25.3 billion of bids, all from Asia, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Next on industry and company news

• The Ministry of Natural Resources said Wednesday that China's lithium reserves have increased from 6 percent to 16.5 percent of the global total, propelling it from sixth to second place in the world rankings, after a world-class spodumene-type lithium belt spanning 2,800 kilometers in west China has been discovered. 
• China's parcel delivery shipments surged 21 percent to 174.5 billion last year from a year earlier, with revenue rising 13 percent to 1.4 trillion yuan, the State Post Bureau said today.
• Xpeng AeroHT showcased a modular land aircraft carrier at the CES 2025. The flying car subsidiary of Chinese NEV startup Xpeng Motors is building a manufacturing base, with plans to begin mass production and delivery of its flying car next year.
• The BYD Hefei, the firm's third car carrier, was delivered and set sail yesterday. The 199.9-meter-long and 38-meter-wide clean energy ro-ro ship features 7,000 standard parking spots and utilizes advanced LNG dual-fuel tech, cutting carbon emissions by 30 percent to support diverse shipping routes.
• Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Taobao launched a “send gift” feature, following WeChat’s lead, allowing users to buy eligible products and gift them to others by sending a QR code. Recipients will have 24 hours to accept the gift before it expires.

Switching gears to financial news

• China's foreign exchange reserves totaled 3.2024 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of December 2024, down by 63.5 billion dollars, or 1.94 percent, compared to the end of November last year, as the U.S. dollar index climbed while global financial asset prices declined last month. 

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

• Chinese stocks ended mixed on Wednesday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite edged up 0.02 percent while the Shenzhen Component slid 0.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.9 percent and the TECH index lost 1.1 percent.

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

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