China to roll out new consumer spending incentives for cars and home appliances to offset trade war
- Overall Chinese retail sales growth decelerated in November to its lowest rate in 15 years, despite record e-commerce spending on Singles’ Day
- Moves follows decision by Central Economic Work Conference last month to expand domestic consumer spending this year to achieve ‘high-quality growth’
China is planning to roll out a new set of incentives this year to encourage the country’s 1 billion consumers to buy more items like cars and home appliances as part of a wider effort to stabilise economic growth, a senior state planner said.
The comments by Ning Jizhe, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, followed the decision by the Central Economic Work Conference last month to expand domestic consumer spending this year to achieve “high-quality growth” and offset the impact of the trade war with United States.
Overall Chinese retail sales growth decelerated in November to its lowest rate in 15 years, despite record e-commerce spending on Singles’ Day.
Car sales, which account for nearly 30 per cent of the country’s goods sales, suffered the first annual decline in over 20 years after dropping 6 per cent in 2018, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
One cause for the slowdown, analysts said, was the end of a government incentive to purchase cars with smaller engines.
Sales of home appliances, especially air conditioners, have also continued to slow since the trade war began in July alongside a cooling housing market.