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Since the start of this year, the State Council has released an action plan to initiate large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins. Relevant departments have also rolled out an array of supportive policies. What results have been achieved in implementing these policies? Have these results met your expectations? Thank you.

Liu Aihua:

Thank you for your question. The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year proposed promoting large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins to pursue higher standards for technology, energy consumption and emissions. In March, the State Council released an action plan to make comprehensive arrangements in this regard. At the end of July, relevant departments issued measures to support these initiatives more. Many regions have also issued supportive policies. As the policy scope expands and intensifies, its effects continue to be felt.

First, regarding industrial production, equipment manufacturing and consumer goods industries grew rapidly, driven by policy incentives. In August, due to equipment upgrades and other factors, the added value increased across several sectors: ship and related equipment manufacturing rose by 23%, urban rail transit equipment by 17.1%, textile, garment and leather processing specialized equipment by 10.5%, and communication equipment by 10.3%. All these sectors achieved double-digit growth. Product-wise, food manufacturing machinery output rose by 66% year on year, textile specialized equipment 15.7%, and packaging specialized equipment 13.5%, all faster than the previous month. Stimulated by factors like trade-ins, consumer goods manufacturing added value grew 4.2% year on year, slightly faster than in July. Of the 13 consumer goods industries, 10 achieved year-on-year growth. In terms of specific products, those covered by relevant policies showed significant growth: household washing machine production increased by7%, smart TV production rose by6.7%, and household refrigerator production grew by 4.7%.

In terms of investment, driven by large-scale equipment upgrade policies, investment in equipment, tools and instruments grew rapidly, significantly boosting overall investment growth. From January to August, the contribution of investment in purchasing equipment, tools and instruments to overall investment growth reached 64.2%, up 3.5 percentage points from the January-July period.

In terms of consumption, driven by consumer goods trade-in policies, retail sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment shifted from a 2.4% year-on-year decline in July to a 3.4% increase in August. High-efficiency appliances achieved double-digit growth in retail sales. New energy vehicle (NEV) sales grew even faster. According to the China Automobile Dealers Association, the August retail volume of NEVs increased by43.2% year on year, up 6.3 percentage points from July. The penetration rate of NEVs reached 53.9%, exceeding 50% for two consecutive months.

As policies for large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins are further implemented in detail, their scope and public awareness will expand, likely enhancing their effectiveness. These policies are expected to boost domestic demand and promote the development of new growth drivers. Thank you.