103.07 billion yuan! Not long ago, the report card of household appliance consumption in China was released: according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the retail sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment by units above designated size exceeded one trillion yuan in 2024, an increase of 12.3% compared to the previous year. This data exceeds the peak of 945.4 billion yuan in 2017, setting a new historical high. This impressive performance fully reflects the positive effect of the policy of exchanging old for new consumer goods Jiang Feng, Executive Chairman of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said that this move is not only conducive to activating the current consumer market, but also expected to promote the high-quality development of the household electrical industry in the long run. How have all parties responded to the exchange of old for new for one year? What are the expectations for the new year? The reporter interviewed some consumers, e-commerce platforms, and home appliance companies. The policy effect has promoted consumption growth and market recovery. In the past year, there have been frequent actions of exchanging old for new: in March 2024, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Promoting Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Exchange", fully deploying the "two new" work; In July, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the "Several Measures on Strengthening Support for Large scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade in", which proposed to arrange extra long term special treasury bond to support local governments to improve their ability to trade in consumer goods; In August, the Ministry of Commerce and four other departments issued a notice on further improving the work of exchanging old appliances for new ones, clarifying the types of subsidies, optimizing the subsidy methods, and providing "operating rules" for exchanging old appliances for new ones. From frontline interviews, it can be seen that the policy effects of trade in are becoming apparent. In Guiyang, Guizhou, taking advantage of the trade in activity, citizen Wang Fen decisively made a move and purchased a wall mounted air conditioner from a nearby Haier store. The old air conditioner always has problems, but the new air conditioner not only has self-cleaning function, but also has better energy-saving effect. "She calculated her account, and after deducting the old air conditioner and adding activity subsidies, the original price was 3299 yuan, but she only spent 2399 yuan to get it. Consumers benefit, and stores also benefit. Since the implementation of the trade in program, there has been a significant increase in store foot traffic, driving an overall sales growth of 21% for Haier's home appliances. Among them, products such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and water heaters have seen significant growth. Offline replacement is hot, and online sales are heating up. Open the e-commerce client, enter the "National Subsidy" section, and apply for subsidy eligibility with just one click. Xiao Fei, a consumer from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, said, "I placed an order for a smartphone at 10 am and it was delivered to my doorstep at 5 pm." The courier went to my doorstep to verify the information and ensure that the subsidy funds were accurately in place, resulting in a discount of several hundred yuan. On the basis of the eight categories of home appliances of the "national subsidy", on January 20 of this year, Tiktok Mall included mobile phones, tablets and other digital products in the scope of subsidies to meet consumers' diversified needs for new products. Since the launch of the event, the sales of mobile phones participating in the "national subsidy" on the platform have increased threefold compared to the previous period. The effects of a series of trade in policies continue to emerge, promoting the growth of household appliance consumption and market recovery. From a specific category perspective, the changes in the television market are particularly evident. According to the report, the shipment volume of branded complete machines in the Chinese television market in 2023 decreased by 8.4% year-on-year. Since the implementation of the trade in policy, the TV market has shown significant recovery. From October to December last year, the shipment volume has achieved positive growth for three consecutive months, especially a year-on-year increase of 9.7% in December, revitalizing the market. From the perspective of growth trend, from September to December 2024, the monthly growth of retail sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment for units above designated size was 20.5%, 39.2%, 22.2%, and 39.3% respectively, maintaining double-digit growth for four consecutive months. In 2024, the sales volume of 8 types of household appliances through trade in will exceed 62 million units, directly driving consumption of nearly 270 billion yuan and effectively activating consumption potential. The policy of exchanging old for new promotes production growth and accelerates transformation. During the interview, the reporter found that the policy effect of exchanging old for new is being transmitted to the supply side, continuously optimizing the quality of industrial development. In the short term, the production heat continues to rise. In Qingdao, Shandong, Haier Refrigerator Interconnected Factory has a robotic arm that accurately grasps steel plates, cutting, punching, rolling, and flanging... In 75 minutes, a refrigerator can be offline. The factory manager introduced: "Since the factory started production at the end of last year, there has been a significant increase in orders for high-end intelligent refrigerators. Currently, various production lines are operating at full capacity to meet orders." In the Gree Gaolan Port air conditioning intelligent factory in Zhuhai, Guangdong, robots are busy, and the entire production process is automated, including condenser installation, screw fixation, and finished product inspection. The relevant person in charge of Gree said that in the second half of last year, the sales of the "wind does not blow people" series air conditioners increased by 1.2 times year-on-year, driving the continuous increase of high-end production capacity. The improvement of the retail market is driving steady progress in production. Data shows that in 2024, the added value of the household appliance industry will increase by 7.9%. Among them, the production of household refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators and other products has grown rapidly, with growth rates of 13.3%, 9.7%, 8.8%, and 8.3% respectively. The trade in of consumer goods effectively promotes the expansion of the scale of light industry related industries and drives the growth of the light industry economy, "said Zhang Chonghe, President of the China Light Industry Federation. In 2024, the contribution rate of the household appliance industry's operating income to the growth of light industry was 22.7%, driving the growth of light industry's operating income by 0.46 percentage points. In the long run, the pace of industrial transformation is accelerating. Under the effect of the trade in program, consumers' demand for home appliances has shifted from focusing on basic functions to prioritizing quality experience, "said a person in charge of Haier Electric. Taking refrigerators as an example, not only do they need to preserve freshness, but they also need intelligent temperature control, sterilization, and odor purification. These changes in demand are forcing companies to accelerate the research and development of new functions and launch new products." Currently, many new intelligent series of products are being developed intensively and will be introduced to the market in the near future. "The new generation of heat pump washing machines achieve a 37 degree Celsius body feel soft drying without damaging clothes, and the new air conditioning is equipped with distributed air supply technology..." We will take the trade in program as an opportunity to deeply explore consumer needs, and we are seizing opportunities and accelerating transformation, "said a person in charge of Gree Electric. The trade in policy provides different energy efficiency subsidies for different categories of household appliances, aiming to promote green and intelligent consumption, in line with the national trend of green transformation. It not only meets people's high-quality living needs, but also cultivates new quality productivity in the industry and promotes high-quality development of the industry, "said Jiang Feng. According to the data from the National Household Appliance Trade in Qualification Verification System, both the high energy efficiency level and the retail sales of smart home appliances have achieved double-digit growth, indicating a clear trend of transformation and upgrading in the home appliance industry. The number of discarded household appliances has surged, and the disposal of old materials has formed a new market. With the accelerated implementation of the trade in policy, the consumer market for household appliances has significantly heated up, and the number of discarded household appliances that have been replaced is also increasing rapidly. The disposal of old materials is forming a new market. In the past year, China's household appliance recycling and dismantling volume have achieved dual growth. According to data from key enterprises contacted by the Ministry of Commerce, the amount of recycled waste household appliances in 2024 increased by 14.83% year-on-year. According to data from household appliance dismantling enterprises of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative Federation, the standardized dismantling of waste household appliances will increase by 20% year-on-year in 2024. Collecting waste household appliances quickly, dismantling them well, and reusing them will help promote the deepening and implementation of trade in programs. Riding on the wave of trade in, many home appliance companies are actively improving their recycling systems, organically integrating the two links of trade in and trade in, and enhancing their market competitiveness. By conducting trade in programs in terminal sales stores, Haier is promoting the standardized disposal of recycled waste household appliances through end-to-end direct access to dismantling factories. In 2024, Haier Smart Home achieved the recycling of 7.69 million waste household appliances nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 10%. Using relevant mini programs as ports, Gree provides consumers with integrated services for sending and disassembling, improving the efficiency of recycling waste household appliances. As of the end of last year, Gree Renewable Resources has processed over 64.77 million units (sets) of various types of waste electrical and electronic products. Industry insiders have stated that in the past, due to insufficient recycling capacity and low standardization of dismantling, the utilization rate of recycled resources from waste household appliances was relatively low. The policy of exchanging old for new has driven efficient collaboration among production enterprises, e-commerce platforms, and recycling enterprises. More and more companies are not only able to "dismantle", but also "dismantle well", which has to some extent promoted the development of the recycling industry. At present, the pilot work of the recycling system for waste household appliances, furniture and other renewable resources is being carried out in an orderly manner, and a preliminary list of 32 pilot cities and 78 pilot enterprises has been formed. In the new year, there is a new voice of exchanging old for new: In January of this year, the Ministry of Commerce and four other departments issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in the 2025 Home Appliance Trade in Work", which clearly formed a policy "combination fist" and strengthened the promotion of home appliance trade in. Looking ahead to the future, many companies believe that considering that China's home appliance consumption has entered the stock market and the demand for renewal is entering a period of concentrated release, it is expected that the continued efforts of policies will continue the wave of trade in triggered by the old for new policy, and promote the stable and positive development of the home appliance industry. (New Society)