China is launching a new initiative to boost sluggish domestic consumption by subsidizing personal devices, including smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and bracelets. The country’s nationwide consumer trade-in programme will be expanded to include these products, with the goal of stimulating business and increasing sales.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that it would optimize funding allocation based on previous year’s results, prioritizing areas with better performance. This effort aims to simplify the subsidy process, reducing liquidity pressure on enterprises while strengthening fund supervision.
So far, Beijing has disbursed 150 billion yuan ($20.55 billion) to local governments to support consumer purchases of home appliances and electric cars by the end of August. The move is expected to inject energy into weak domestic consumption, which has hindered China’s economic recovery due to a significant share of household wealth being trapped in declining property and stock markets.
Source: https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3293299/calling-all-smartphone-seekers-china-subsidise-personal-devices-expand-trade-push