**The fourth meeting of the Financial and Economic Committee emphasized that accelerating product upgrading is an important measure to promote high-quality development, and it is necessary to encourage and guide the renewal of equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods on a new scale.
Yesterday (March 1), the executive meeting deliberated and approved the "Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Trade-in of Consumer Goods". What are the highlights of the solution? Let's take a look at what the experts have to say
Accelerate product upgrading.
Cultivating new quality productivity.
According to the plan, the state will orderly promote the renewal of new large-scale equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods, orderly promote the renewal and transformation of equipment in key industries, equipment in the field of construction and municipal infrastructure, transportation equipment and old agricultural machinery, education and medical equipment, and actively carry out the trade-in of consumer goods such as automobiles and home appliances to form a scale effect of upgrading.
Experts said that the implementation of a new scale of equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in is conducive to further consolidating and giving play to the key role of investment in optimizing the supply structure. We will continue to promote the optimization of the economic structure, industrial transformation and upgrading, and accelerate the formation and development of new quality productive forces.
He Xin, Vice President of Tsinghua Suzhou Environmental Innovation Research Institute: It is not only a project to benefit the people, but also a very key measure to achieve high-quality development and build a new development pattern. Our entire production process and production equipment are not only facing the requirements of green and low-carbon, as well as product quality and safety, but also facing the trend of upgrading to intelligence, digitalization and informatization. Through such a policy, enterprises can also release their own production chain transformation needs, which is in line with our policy objectives and requirements for cultivating new quality productivity.
The plan pointed out that it is necessary to combine the differentiated needs of various equipment and consumer goods for upgrading, increase fiscal, tax, financial and other policy support, and adhere to the market-oriented and first-class guidance.
Li Zezheng, deputy director of the financing office of the Investment Research Institute of the China Macroeconomic Research Institute: In particular, on the basis of market demand, we should encourage and guide business entities and consumers to make independent decisions to participate in the entire equipment renewal and the trade-in of consumer goods.
Experts said that foreign-funded manufacturing enterprises will also benefit from the renewal of equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods.
He Xin, Vice President of Tsinghua Suzhou Environmental Innovation Research Institute: Not only for domestic enterprises, but also for international manufacturing enterprises, such measures will also show that China is not only a global factory, but also a global market. We are willing to share the dividends of China's reform and development and China's high-quality development with enterprises from all over the world.
Where is the "new" in this round of trade-in?
You may be familiar with the term "trade-in". In the past ten years, China has experienced actions such as home appliances going to the countryside, cars going to the countryside, and home appliances being traded-in. How is the new round of "trade-in" different from the past?
He Xin, vice president of Tsinghua Suzhou Environmental Innovation Research Institute, participated in the research and formulation of the "trade-in" policy for automobiles and home appliances in 2009. He said that the new first-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in are very different from the past in terms of implementation areas and subsidy standards.
He Xin, Vice President of Tsinghua Suzhou Environmental Innovation Research Institute: The areas implemented this time are not only traditional household appliances and automobiles, but also some other durable consumer goods. There are also many industrial equipment on the production side, which are also included in the implementation scope of this policy.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, in 2023, the number of cars in China will be 3400 million units, refrigerators, washing machines and other major categories of home appliances more than 3 billion units, the demand and potential for upgrading. Experts said that in the field of consumption, the last round of "trade-in" activities belonged to the stage of popularization of large-scale durable goods, and this round has been upgraded from solving "whether it is good" to "whether it is good or not".
He Xin, vice president of Tsinghua Suzhou Environmental Innovation Research Institute: In the past, we mainly focused on the quality and safety of products, as well as some energy-saving and energy-consumption indicators, but this time we will take green and low-carbon, intelligence and informatization as the standard or object of this subsidy.
Experts said that there is an important feature of the new first-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in, that is, to adhere to the guidance of standards and better play the traction role of energy consumption, emissions, technology and other standards. In February this year, the national government and other departments issued the "Advanced Level of Energy Efficiency, Energy Saving Level and Access Level of Key Energy-using Products and Equipment (2024 Edition)", which divides the energy efficiency level of energy-using products and equipment into three levels: advanced level, energy-saving level and access level. Guide all regions and relevant enterprises to implement product and equipment renovation, encourage energy efficiency and energy saving after renovation, and strive to reach the advanced level of energy efficiency.
"Trade-in" focuses on establishing a circular system.
To promote the renewal of equipment on a new scale and the trade-in of consumer goods, it is necessary to implement comprehensive policies in production, supply and marketing, upstream and downstream, government, enterprises and people, online and offline coordination and linkage. Experts said that the relevant departments are pushing to get through the possible blockages and difficulties.
With a new device, where does the old one go? The new round of "trade-in" focuses on the use of the link. The plan pointed out that it is necessary to implement a comprehensive conservation strategy, establish and improve the utilization system, promote the remanufacturing of waste equipment, and improve the level of resource recycling.
Li Zezheng, Deputy Director of the Financing Office of the Investment Research Institute of the China Macroeconomic Research Institute: Strengthen the development of the "new + ** logistics system and new model, improve the recycling efficiency of waste equipment and consumer goods, and reduce resource waste and environmental pollution.
To encourage "trade-in", who should the subsidy be paid to? The fourth meeting of the Financial and Economic Committee proposed that it is necessary to adhere to the linkage between finance and local governments, coordinate and support all links of the whole chain, and benefit consumers more. Experts said that it is necessary to make good use of the policy combination and optimize the policy design of trade-in subsidies for consumer goods.