Original title: Financial Focus | How to Protect "New"? Where is the "old" going—— Promote the exchange of old appliances for new ones in many places

What has been the effect of the implementation of policies and measures related to the exchange of old appliances for new ones? The reporter recently investigated in Chongqing, Guangdong, Hubei and other places, and learned that local governments, household appliances enterprises, sales platforms and other organizations launched various forms of old for new activities, which enabled consumers to get "new" and get "old", and the policy effect of old for new has begun to show.

Affordable and secure renewal

In the Chongqing Jingdong Electric Appliance Super Experience Store, Ms. You, a customer, is going to replace the old air conditioner that has been used for nearly 10 years at home. "The more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient the appliances are, the higher the subsidy will be. This first-class energy efficient cabinet air conditioner will cost more than 9000 yuan, and will enjoy a subsidy of up to 20%, which will give a discount of nearly 2000 yuan."

"There is a discount for buying a new machine, and there is a subsidy for replacing an old one." Walking into the industry and trade home appliance aviation road store in Jianghan District, Wuhan, the on-site shopping guide told the reporter, "When the air conditioner cabinet is recycled, the enterprise can get a subsidy of up to 500 yuan for replacing, and when purchasing a new machine with a price of more than 1000 yuan, the government can also enjoy a subsidy of consumption vouchers."

In order to promote the exchange of old for new green smart home appliances, Wuhan has invested a total of 30 million yuan in this round of financial funds to issue subsidies for the exchange of old for new green smart home appliances.

Under the support of the new round of trade in policy, more places will provide programs, funds and policies to promote the in-depth development of trade in of household appliances.

Chongqing printed and distributed the "Aishang Chongqing" Consumer Goods Old for New Implementation Plan, which is expected to form a subsidy scale of more than 2 billion yuan for the old for new policy; Guangdong Provincial Finance allocated 370 million yuan for the first round of consumer goods trade in activities; Hubei strives to realize 1 million old appliances for new appliances this year

Relevant enterprises also took action. Renewal is not only affordable, but also guaranteed by service.

Free door-to-door air conditioning cleaning, water heater detection, clothing cleaning... Not long ago, an activity of "trade in the old for the new into the community" was held in the communities of Cuntan Street, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing.

"The promotion of the old for new policy driven by service attracted more than 180 customers to the store to participate in the old for new activity in a week." Tian Haochen, deputy general manager of Chongqing Branch of Jingdong Five Star Electric Appliance Group, said that since the launch of the old for new activity in late April, the sales of super experience stores have increased by nearly 50% year on year.

Some businesses have also extended their service chains. Zhang Yiju, the general manager of Chongqing Yingfeng Home Appliance Sales Co., Ltd., said: "Consumers only need to place an order, and we provide one-stop service of delivering new, dismantling old, installing new, and collecting old."

Green, efficient and smooth old collection

Huang Xiaquan, a citizen who lives in Yubei District, Chongqing, opened the mobile phone applet "City Fish Recycling" and ordered the recycling of old air conditioners with one click. Within two hours, the staff came to the house to disassemble and recycle the old air conditioners. After evaluation, his air conditioners that have been used for seven years were finally recovered at a price of 300 yuan.

For consumers, they can not only trade in old appliances in physical stores, but also place orders online to recycle old appliances through online platforms.

"The new round of policies especially emphasize the construction of recycling and circulation network." The head of Yixin Technology Co., Ltd., the operator of "City Fish Recycling", told reporters that the Liangjiang New Area in Chongqing where the enterprise is located will give the recycling enterprise 20% of its actual investment from January to September this year as a reward to help the enterprise build a circulation network.

How will the recycled old household appliances be disposed of?

In the factory of Wuhan Green Recycling Electronic Waste Disposal Co., Ltd., which covers an area of 658 mu, a set of waste refrigerators and televisions are being weighed, sorted and pasted with two-dimensional codes.

"The refrigerator door seals, circuit boards and other components will be disassembled, the refrigerant inside the box will be recovered synchronously, and the waste plastics and metals will enter the recycling cycle." He Chaochao, recycling director of Wuhan Green Recycling Electronic Waste Disposal Co., Ltd., introduced that in order to cope with the new wave of scrapping of old appliances that may be brought by the exchange of old appliances for new ones, the factory is currently improving the sorting system, Continuously improve the treatment efficiency of waste plastics.

In Midea Group's recycling service network, each recycled old machine will generate a unique bar code. From door-to-door, logistics, transportation, storage, to disassembly, scrap and other links, green recycling can be traced throughout.

"After the old machines are removed from the door, they will be sorted and sent to the green disassembly enterprise authorized by the state. After standardized disassembly, the resources will be recycled," said Yin Sheng, head of sustainable development and green recycling of Midea Group.

Initial results still need to continue to work

The latest data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that the online sales of home appliances and furniture in April increased by 9.3% and 12.2% respectively year on year, 2.3 and 3.2 percentage points faster than that in March. The effect of the home appliance trade in policy has initially appeared.

The data of major e-commerce platforms is also a confirmation. In April, the sales of old appliances for new increased by 49.3% year on year, and the sales of green smart appliances in the countryside increased by 13.85% year on year.

On May 17, participants attended the activity at the launch ceremony of the household appliances consumption season. Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ziheng

"The scale of the previous activities and promotion efforts were not as good as this year." Fan Xiangzhong, the chief operating officer of Hubei Suning E-shop store, said that in the past, enterprises used to do old for new activities, and a large amount of funds were used for marketing promotion. Now there are government subsidies, which reduce the cost of enterprises, but also improve the incentives, and consumers are more enthusiastic.

Industry insiders believe that by promoting the exchange of old appliances for new ones, consumers can achieve substantial benefits in product upgrading. Household appliance enterprises can expand sales to promote production, and recycling end green environmental protection promotes resource recycling.

"The household appliance industry, as a trillion level industry in China, has a huge scale." Yin Sheng said that in 2023, China's main categories of household appliances will have more than 3 billion units, and the life cycle of household appliances will generally be 8 to 10 years, a considerable part of which has "extended service", and the renewal demand will enter the centralized release period.

Shu Zhiwei, president of Wuhan Home Appliance Business Association, said that the current round of replacement of old appliances for new ones is still in its infancy, and the consumer side still needs a process of policy adaptation, but the prospect is very promising.

The Ministry of Commerce said that in the next step, it would encourage all regions to introduce and implement policies that benefit the people, further improve the recycling system of renewable resources such as waste household appliances, break through the blocking points, so that consumers can obtain real convenience and benefits, form an effective mechanism that "it is easier to get rid of the old and more willing to replace the new", and smooth the consumption cycle of household appliances. (Reporters: Li Xiaoting, Xie Xiyao, Gong Liankang, Wu Tao)