China's home appliance trade-in boosts sales by 100b yuan

BEIJING - China's home appliances replacement program has boosted sales revenue for home appliances by 100 billion yuan ($14.98billion), the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

According to the program, buyers in nine provinces and municipalities including Guangdong province, Beijing and Shanghai, receive a subsidy worth 10 percent of the retail prices on five kinds of new appliances: TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air-conditioners and computers.

As of now, the program is estimated to have helped reduce power consumption by 5.1 billion kilowatt hours, as power consumption by the new home appliances is 20 to 30 percent lower than the traded-in ones, the statement said.