250 billion in special national bonds support old-for-new exchanges, "real money" boosts consumption

Source: 21st Century Business Herald 21Finance App Author: Zhang Xu

At 9:00 AM on March 5, the opening session of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress was held at the Great Hall of the People. Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, on behalf of the State Council, delivered the Government Work Report to the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress.

The 2026 Government Work Report proposes promoting the expansion and upgrading of consumer goods spending, and allocating 250 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to support the trade-in of consumer goods and replacement with new ones, while optimizing the policy implementation mechanism. A special fund of 100 billion yuan is established for fiscal and financial coordination to boost domestic demand; it will apply a combination of measures such as loan interest subsidies, financing guarantees, and risk compensation to support expanding domestic demand.

Consumption is the main engine driving economic growth. In 2025, China implemented in depth special actions to boost consumption. The size of the consumer market continued to grow steadily; the total retail sales of consumer goods by society surpassed 50 trillion yuan for the first time; and consumption’s contribution rate to economic growth reached 52%.

Since 2026, the policies for trading in old for new consumer goods have been fully implemented and targeted with precision. They cover key areas such as automobiles, home appliances, digital products, and smart products, effectively unlocking consumer demand potential in the market and enabling a strong start for the consumer market. Localities have also introduced supportive measures one after another, refining and implementing plans to help the trade-in-for-new policy produce even greater effects.

On February 14, Henan issued the “Implementation Plan for Large-Scale Equipment Upgrades and Trade-in of Old for New Consumer Goods in Henan Province for 2026,” proposing that by the end of 2026 it will strive to complete approximately 500k units of vehicle scrappage and replacement updates by individual consumers, and approximately 5 million units of home appliances traded in for new ones. Starting from February 9, Beijing implemented a new subsidy plan for automobiles traded in for old-to-new replacements, with the maximum subsidy amount up to 20k yuan.

With policies such as trade-ins spurring activity, during the Spring Festival the consumer market in Guangdong saw multiple areas flourish. Consumption structure continued to improve, with both supply and demand for service consumption staying strong. Daily average retail sales revenue for household appliances used in daily life such as robotic vacuum cleaners increased by 137.9% year over year; retail sales revenue for communication devices such as smart phones increased by 53.1% year over year; sales of new energy vehicles increased by 46.8% year over year. The trend of upgrading residents’ consumption was evident.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, as of February 23, 2026, the trade-in-for-new program for consumer goods had benefited 500k people, driving sales of 207.03 billion yuan. Demand for intelligent and green products remains strong. As of February 5, 2026, the number of subsidy applications for automobile trade-ins for old-to-new replacements reached 335k, driving new car sales of 53.77 billion yuan.

On March 2, 2026 National Consumer Promotion Month and the Jing-Jin-Ji Consumer Season were launched in Tianjin. The Ministry of Commerce said that the 2026 National Consumer Promotion Month and the Jing-Jin-Ji Consumer Season, as a key themed activity of “Buy in China,” will further optimize the implementation of the trade-in-for-new policies for consumer goods, deepen new consumer formats, new models, and new scenarios, expand the supply of quality goods and services, and promote the growth of first-launch economy, healthy consumption, green consumption, and intelligent consumption. It will also encourage integration across multiple scenarios such as business, travel, culture, and sports to better meet diversified and quality-oriented consumer needs.

The trade-in-for-new policy is an important part of expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption. On March 4, Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress, said that this year, China will adhere to expanding domestic demand as the strategic cornerstone, vigorously boost consumption, and advance efforts to build a strong domestic market.

On the one hand, expand the supply of high-quality consumer goods and services. Implement actions to improve the quality of service consumption and benefit the people; accelerate the cultivation of new growth points for service consumption; optimize trade-in-for-new policies for consumer goods to promote the expansion and upgrading of goods consumption; create an internationalized consumption environment, enrich consumption scenarios, and hold the “Buy in China” series of activities well.

On the other hand, firmly integrate benefiting people’s livelihoods with promoting consumption. Promote high-quality employment; formulate and implement urban and rural residents’ income-increase plans to enhance residents’ consumption capacity. Steadily advance equalization of basic public services, improve the education, childcare, elderly care, and medical security systems, and reduce residents’ worries about consumption afterlife.

“This year, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will conduct oversight on building a unified national market and advancing rural revitalization in a comprehensive way. It will also formulate laws such as the Social Assistance Law, the Medical Security Law, and the Childcare Services Law, to promote more resources being投入民生领域, so that the people can consume, dare to consume, and are willing to consume.”

(Editor: Wen Jing)

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