China's Stimulus Scheme Boosted Consumption Growth in 2024
China's consumer goods trade-in program significantly contributed to the nation's consumption growth last year, according to Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping.
Key Points:
* Sales under the scheme reached 1.3 trillion yuan ($179.45 billion), lifting retail sales growth in 2024 by more than 1 percentage point.
* China will continue to implement measures to stimulate consumption, including expanding trade-ins and upgrading consumer offerings.
* Analysts anticipate the trade-in scheme's positive impact may diminish in the second half of 2025 due to the nature of durable goods sales and potential substitution effects.
Additional Measures:
* China has expanded the range of home appliances eligible for trade-ins and plans to subsidize additional digital goods this year.
* The government allocated 150 billion yuan from special treasury bonds to subsidize purchases of qualifying products.
Outlook:
China's authorities are committed to supporting the household sector and will unveil further steps to boost consumption in the coming year.