On March 7, 2024, the State Council issued the "Plan for Promoting Large-Scale Equipment Updates and Trade-In of Consumer Goods." The document proposes actions to update equipment in industries such as industrial, construction, transportation, etc., trade-in programs for consumer products like automobiles, household appliances, home furnishings, recycling and reuse of waste materials, and enhancement of standards, aiming to promote industrial upgrading, energy conservation, emission reduction, and consumption growth.
Regarding industrial equipment, the document proposes promoting the renewal and technological transformation of production equipment, energy-using equipment, and power transmission and distribution equipment in key industries such as steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, chemicals, building materials, electricity, machinery, aviation, shipping, textiles, and electronics.
In the construction sector, it suggests promoting the renewal and transformation of equipment such as residential elevators, water supply, heating, gas supply, sewage treatment, sanitation, urban lifeline projects, and security.
In the transportation sector, the document suggests advancing the electrification of buses, accelerating the phasing out of diesel trucks with emission levels below China III standards, strengthening the industrialization of green aviation equipment such as electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft, expediting the scrapping and renewal of old, high-energy-consuming, and highly polluting ships, vigorously supporting the development of new energy-powered ships, and promoting the scrapping and renewal of old agricultural machinery to accelerate the structural adjustment of agricultural machinery.
In the consumer goods sector, the document proposes a trade-in program for products such as automobiles, household appliances, and home furnishings.
To implement these actions, the document proposes the following supportive policies:
l Fiscal policy: Inclusion of eligible equipment renewal and recycling projects in the scope of funds supported by the central budget; subsidies from central government-arranged energy-saving and emission reduction funds for eligible trade-ins of automobiles; encouragement for localities to use funds related to the modern commercial circulation system arranged by the central government to support the trade-in of durable consumer goods such as household appliances; continuous implementation of subsidies for the renewal of old operational vehicles and ships to support the renewal of old ships, diesel trucks, etc.; encouragement for localities to utilize the central government's arranged funds for urban transportation development rewards to support the renewal of new energy buses and batteries; proper utilization of subsidies for scrapping and renewing old agricultural machinery; establishment of special funds by the central government to support the recycling and disposal of waste electrical and electronic products; further improvement of government green procurement policies and increased procurement of green products.
l Tax policy: Increase support for tax incentives for energy-saving, water-saving, environmental protection, and safety production equipment, including digital and intelligent transformation.
l Financial policy: Use re-lending policy tools to guide financial institutions to strengthen support for equipment updates and technological transformations; certain interest rate support from the central government for bank loans meeting reimbursement conditions; encourage banks to reasonably increase green credit, strengthen financial support for the production, service, and consumption of green and intelligent household appliances; encourage banks to properly reduce the down payment ratio for automobile loans under the premise of legal compliance and controllable risks.