Many regions enhance efforts to promote the replacement of consumer goods: from "regulated actions" to "self-initiated actions."

Staff Reporter Liu Meng

Since the beginning of this year, a clear trend has emerged in the implementation of old-for-new consumer policies across China: while maintaining the unified national “regulation,” more and more local governments are launching their own “optional” measures tailored to their circumstances.

Many regions have set quantifiable targets and introduced distinctive supporting initiatives. For example, Henan aims to scrap and replace about 500,000 vehicles by the end of 2026, and to upgrade around 5 million home appliances through old-for-new programs, further unlocking consumption potential in digital and smart products. Additionally, they plan to streamline recycling and reuse networks, including improving the collection of old equipment and consumer goods, regulating second-hand trading and remanufacturing of old devices, and expanding resource recycling industries. Specific measures include guiding “Internet + recycling” companies to expand categories and enhance recycling capacity for old equipment and consumer goods, encouraging “Internet + second-hand” models, and supporting cities like Zhengzhou and Luoyang to build centralized, standardized second-hand trading markets.

Song Xiangqing, Vice President of the China Business Economics Society, told Securities Daily that, based on the implementation of the national unified policy framework, local governments are innovating with differentiated measures, highlighting four main aspects: first, focusing on core categories such as automobiles, home appliances, and kitchen and bathroom fixtures, with some regions adding features like smart digital products and senior-friendly furniture; second, combining national subsidies with local support and corporate discounts to enhance residents’ sense of gain; third, expanding recycling service points in counties and rural markets, and deploying mobile service vehicles to address difficulties in old-for-new exchanges at the grassroots level; fourth, utilizing digital platforms for instant subsidy approval and redemption, providing one-stop services to improve policy accuracy and efficiency, making benefits more aligned with local consumption needs.

The latest data is impressive. Recently, the Ministry of Commerce reported that since the start of this year, the sales of old-for-new consumer goods have reached 47.623 million units, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%, with sales revenue totaling 3.2326 billion yuan, up 3.2%.

Fu Yifu, a special researcher at the Shanghai Commercial Bank, told Securities Daily that these figures clearly indicate that policy dividends are accelerating into actual consumption momentum. First, the growth rate of sales volume significantly exceeds that of sales value, reflecting that policies effectively stimulate the “quantity” of consumer demand, especially in mid-to-low-end and essential categories, where old-for-new reduces replacement barriers and converts potential demand into actual purchases. Second, steady growth in sales revenue shows that there has been no decline in consumption quality; some high-value-added products have been optimized structurally through policy guidance, expanding the overall market scale. Additionally, the sales volume of nearly 50 million units demonstrates that the policy has formed a scaled driving effect, not only directly boosting terminal consumption but also sending positive signals upstream in the industry chain, effectively facilitating the domestic big cycle from production to recycling.

Earlier, at the launch ceremony of the 2026 National Consumption Promotion Month and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Consumption Season on March 2, a relevant official from the Ministry of Commerce stated that efforts would be made to further optimize the implementation of old-for-new consumer policies.

So, what further work is needed to optimize the implementation of these policies? Song Xiangqing said that the next step requires government-enterprise collaboration and multi-party efforts: the government should strengthen departmental coordination and data sharing, simplify subsidy procedures, accelerate direct fund transfers, improve waste material recycling systems, and crack down on fraud, false labeling, and price gouging; enterprises should optimize product supply and offline services, launching cost-effective, environmentally friendly, smart products suitable for replacement, and improve convenient services like device assessment and door-to-door recycling; platforms and channels should build integrated online and offline replacement scenarios and promote policy awareness; meanwhile, policies should be expanded to cover both urban and rural areas, addressing urgent needs and upgrade demands, to promote the long-term, standardized operation of old-for-new programs and further unleash consumption potential.

Fu Yifu suggested that policy coordination and expectation guidance should be emphasized. Strengthening the synergy between old-for-new, green consumption, and rural revitalization strategies, exploring linking subsidies with energy efficiency ratings and carbon points, can guide sustainable consumption. Additionally, maintaining stable policy signals can help stabilize market expectations, preventing irrational panic buying due to fears of policy rollback, and fostering a long-term, steady internal consumption momentum.

(Edited by Wen Jing)