news

zhang ping, commentator of chao news client

image courtesy of visual china

you can now get a "friendly sponsorship" from the government for any new purchases, such as changing the floor tiles in the kitchen, buying a smart door lock, or renovating your home to suit the needs of the elderly. recently, the general office of the people's government of zhejiang province issued the "notice on further promoting the action plan for the replacement of old consumer goods in zhejiang province". compared with the previous round of actions, the new policy has increased financial support, expanded the scope of subsidies, and raised subsidy standards, and has stepped up efforts to promote the replacement of old consumer goods with new ones. with the iterative upgrade of policies, the replacement of old with new ones is accelerating into people's lives, driving the gears of consumption to turn.

the old-for-new exchange is connected to the consumption potential demand on one end and the people's better life on the other end. in order to do this well, policies have been frequently implemented and the central government has continuously increased the stakes. this year's "government work report" proposed to "encourage and promote the old-for-new exchange of consumer goods." immediately afterwards, in march, the state council issued the "action plan for promoting large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in", proposing to implement the consumer goods trade-in action, carry out the old-for-new exchange of automobiles and home appliances, and promote the replacement of home decoration consumer goods. in july, the national development and reform commission and the ministry of finance issued the "several measures on strengthening support for large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in", proposing to coordinate the arrangement of about 300 billion yuan of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to vigorously support renewal.

it can be seen that the government really attaches importance to it and is really working hard. zhejiang has introduced a policy arrangement for old-for-new exchange at the provincial level in line with the top-level design. in the new round of notification documents, words such as "giving purchase subsidies with 'immediate purchase and immediate discount'", "real money and silver discounts directly reaching consumers", and "ensuring that policies are directly and quickly enjoyed" once again clearly convey the urgency and sincerity of the policy.

is the consumption promotion effect of old-for-new clearly evident? data show that as of august, zhejiang has carried out more than 1,200 "old-for-new" consumption promotion activities this year, driving sales of more than 200 billion yuan, especially for bulk commodities such as automobiles and home appliances. taking july as an example, the number of automobiles insured in the province reached 150,000, a year-on-year increase of 16.23%; the number of new energy vehicles insured was 83,000, a year-on-year increase of 53.7%, leading the eastern coastal provinces and cities. after the new round of policies were released on august 22, "the automobile replacement and renewal platform accepted 775 applications within 3 days". through consumption, receiving the "red envelopes" issued by the government has also effectively improved the quality of life of consumers. for example, if you buy a set of smart dishwashers, you can get an immediate discount of 15% of the transaction price after eliminating all discounts, and the subsidy can reach 2,000 yuan, and it is a direct reduction and direct subsidy, and the degree of discount directly surpasses "double eleven" and "6.18".

insufficient domestic demand is one of the main difficulties and challenges facing the current economic operation. at this critical juncture, promoting the replacement of old with new is still critical and there is a lot of room for improvement. in 2023, my country's final consumption expenditure accounted for 56% of gdp, which is lower than the average level of developed and middle-income countries, especially the proportion of residents' consumption expenditure is significantly low. at the same time, in 2023, my country's car ownership will be about 340 million, and the ownership of major categories of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners will exceed 3 billion units, indicating that there is a great demand and potential for the replacement of some household appliances. the automobile and home appliance markets have entered the "era of both incremental and stock" from the "era of incremental growth".

simply put, sometimes people don't buy or replace their old products, not because they don't need them, but because they lack purchasing power. the direct subsidy and direct price reduction method increases purchasing power in disguise, helping consumers to afford and buy better products. compared with direct cash distribution, the old-for-new subsidy is more targeted and ensures that the money is used to boost domestic demand and smooth the domestic circulation.

of course, in the process of policy implementation, attention should be paid to optimizing policy details in combination with local characteristic industries and platform carriers. it is also necessary to prevent "involutionary" vicious competition, which will cause unfair price wars and affect the healthy development of the market. at the same time, improve and standardize the recycling system to facilitate the recycling of resources. in the publicity and explanation of policies, efforts should be made to spread and explain the information of profit sharing, quality improvement and expansion, increase consumer confidence, so that everyone can buy with confidence and better promote the role of the old-for-new policy for consumer goods, so as to better support the high-quality development of the economy and meet the people's demand for high-quality life.

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