Progress of China's "Two Renewals" as important economy boosting measures
On September 23, the National Development and Reform Commission of China held a press conference to introduce the overall progress and effectiveness of the policies on large-scale equipment renewal and trading in old consumer goods for new ones.
The equipment renewal and trading in old consumer goods for new ones are one of the most important policies to boost China’s economy. So the press conference told the latest progress.
Equipment renewal mainly includes eight fields such as industrial equipment, energy-consuming equipment, environmental infrastructure, operating ships, operating trucks, new energy buses, agricultural machinery, and old elevators. One simultaneous effect is that high energy-consuming and polluting equipment has been replaced by greener and more environmentally friendly equipment.
Trading in old household consumer goods for new ones mainly includes consumer goods in four fields such as automobiles, home appliances, electric bicycles, and home improvement kitchen and bathroom products.
Three hundred billion yuan of national debt funds have been allocated to equipment renewal projects or distributed to localities for the household consumption products renewals, according to the press conference.
I used around 200 yuan of the government subsidy for trading-in which I think is probably related to the national debt fund when I bought a new fridge two weeks ago. My old one is really old. (The following is my new fridge of Level 1 energy efficiency:) )
As a result to the policy, in the first eight months, investment in the purchase of equipment and tools increased by 16.8%. From August 26 to September 21, on the JD.com platform, the sales of home appliance products such as refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, air conditioners, and computers increased by 128.8%, 86.3%, 130.6%, 240.5%, and 52.2% respectively year-on-year. From September 1 to 21, the customer flow at Suning's nationwide stores doubled. The sales of computers and air conditioners achieved rapid growth of nearly 300% and 100% respectively.
At the same time, in August, the retail sales volume of passenger vehicles in the whole country was 1.905 million units, a significant increase of 10.8% month-on-month. Among them, what is very remarkable is that the retail sales volume of new energy vehicles was 1.027 million units, a significant increase of 17% month-on-month. Don’t forget, that the total EV sold in the United States in 2023 was 1.2 million units.
It is worth noting that by replacing fuel vehicles with new energy vehicles, and old, high-energy-consuming household appliances with high-energy-efficiency household appliances, it can better help China achieve emission reduction and climate goals. My old fridge uses 2 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, while the new one uses only 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity every two days.
Some people may worry about how to deal with the old equipment, scrapped cars, and electrical appliances. I found that there are also corresponding arrangements. China has added more than 5,900 intelligent community waste material recycling facilities. The circular economy is also developing.
So this is the latest development not only in China’s economy but also in climate effort. ###