China to Expand Home Appliance Replacement Scheme

BEIJING, June 3 -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Thursday it will expand the home appliance replacement scheme to 28 cities and provinces from the nine existing pilot areas.

The 19 new regions in the scheme will include Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei provinces and Dalian, Xiamen, and Chongqing, said a statement on the MOC website.

Consumers will receive a subsidy worth 10 percent of the price of five kinds of new appliances -- televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air-conditioners and computers -- from June 1 this year to Dec. 31, 2011.

The move was expected to boost domestic spending by 150 billion yuan (22 billion U.S. dollars), which would spur consumption as the nation's automobile and property markets had begun to slow, said Mu Junji, an analyst with China Commerce Circulation Productivity Promotion Center.

Vehicle sales in May fell 13.95 percent from April to 1.19 million units, according to China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

An old-for-new home appliance pilot program was launched in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Fuzhou, Changsha and provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Guangdong in June last year.

Consumers can sell their old appliances to recycling companies and receive a certificate, which they can give to retailers in exchange for a 10-percent discount.

As of May 31, a total of 14 million home appliances had been sold in the nine trial cities and provinces, with retail sales reaching 54 billion yuan, according to data from the MOC.