Home appliance trade-ins surpassed 1 trillion yuan
China's sales of home appliances surged in 2024 under the policy-backed trade-in program, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday.
Retail sales of home appliances and audio and visual equipment under the scheme reached 1.03 trillion yuan ($143.29 billion) in the year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. This marked the first time the figure had surpassed 1 trillion yuan and represented a 12.3 percent year-on-year growth.
More than 37 million consumers benefited from subsidies for their home goods purchases, the ministry said.
It took 33 days for the number of participants to reach one million after its launch, and only 17 more days to hit five million, the ministry added.
Energy-efficient products were in particularly high demand, with items at the highest energy-efficiency level accounting for over 90 percent of total sales revenue.
To stimulate consumer spending and drive economic growth, China announced an action plan in March last year to implement large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, nearly 15 years after the last such renewal campaign.
As part of recent efforts to bolster the program, the number of home appliance categories eligible for government subsidies has been increased from eight to 12, with microwaves, water purifiers, dishwashers and rice cookers added to the trade-in list.
Sci-tech, manufacturing sectors benefit from tax cuts
China's scientific and technological innovation and the manufacturing sector received more than 2.5 trillion yuan ($340 billion) in support from tax policies in 2024, according to the State Taxation Administration.
According to a national conference on taxation concluded on Jan 16, the 2.5 trillion yuan in tax rebates as well as tax and fee cuts and deferrals, has contributed to accelerating the development of new quality productive forces.
It was noted at the meeting that as the administration advances the digital transformation of taxation, progress was made last year in terms of the nationwide use of fully digitalized electronic invoices, regular data sharing with multiple central departments, and the online payment of taxes and fees.
In 2025, the administration will step up efforts to implement structural tax cuts and fee reductions to see that those who are entitled can fully enjoy them, further improve the tax system and regulate preferential tax policies in such aspects as boosting consumption and expanding domestic demand, and keep improving business environment with better services, according to the meeting.
More cross-provincial medical payments facilitated
The total number of direct settlements of medical expenses incurred outside patients' home provinces reached 238 million last year, an annual increase of 84.7 percent, data from the National Healthcare Security Administration showed on Sunday.
This reduced the out-of-pocket payments for insured individuals by 194.7 billion yuan ($26.62 billion), a year-on-year increase of 26.71 percent, the administration said.
According to the administration, by the end of August last year, there was at least one designated medical institution in each county that was able to provide direct cross-provincial medical bill settlement for five chronic and special diseases, including high blood pressure, diabetes and dialysis for uremia.
China has expanded its on-the-spot settlement service system for cross-provincial medical expenses in recent years, with more medical institutions covered and more people benefiting from it.