Beijing’s Culinary Gamble: Cooking Appliances as Catalysts for Economic Growth

The Chinese administration has broadened a catalog of items that individuals can exchange to receive a discount of up to 20% on new products as the nation endeavors to invigorate its struggling economy.

The catalog now features products such as microwave ovens, dishwashers, rice cookers, and water purifiers.

Government-supported trade-in initiatives already included televisions, mobile phones, tablets, and smartwatches as well as electric and hybrid automobiles.

The globe’s second-largest economy has been confronting numerous obstacles, including low consumer demand and an escalating property crisis.

On Wednesday, authorities announced that 81 billion yuan (£8.9bn; $11bn) had been allocated this year for the consumer goods trade-in program.

China’s leading economic planning agency has noted that the programs, initiated in March, have already yielded “noticeable results”.

As stated by the nation’s Ministry of Commerce, these policies have increased sales of high-value items such as home appliances and automobiles.

However, some economists have expressed doubts about whether these schemes will be sufficient to substantially enhance consumer demand.

Economist Dan Wang from China remarked, “the initiative is far from adequate to enhance consumption.”

“While it has aided sales of some specified goods, such as cars and appliances, it hasn’t led to a general increase in expenditure,” stated Harry Murphy Cruise, head of China economics at Moody’s Analytics.

In recent months, China has continued to implement further measures aimed at supporting its internal economy as the nation’s exporters encounter mounting difficulties.

In December, a significant meeting of Chinese leaders emphasized the necessity for “robust” actions to stimulate consumer spending.

This occurred as President-elect Donald Trump, scheduled to return to the White House this month, threatened to levy a 60% tariff on products manufactured in China.

China is set to release its economic growth projections for 2024 next week, which Beijing anticipates will be approximately 5%.