(Yicai) Jan. 2 -- Ten provincial-level regions in China, including Shanghai, Guangdong, and Hainan, will extend their home appliance trade-in programs into 2025 to boost consumer confidence, though matching last year's sales record will be challenging, according to an industry expert.

Hebei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Guizhou, Sichuan provinces, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will continue the subsidy program introduced last year, Wu Xianjian, executive deputy secretary-general of the China Household Electric Appliances Association, told Yicai, citing regional announcements.

With policy refinement, the subsidies are expected to expand to include more categories of home appliances and a broader range of manufacturers and retailers this year, Wu predicts. The program offers subsidies of 10 to 20 percent on purchases of energy-efficient home appliances.

Driven by the scheme, home appliance sales are projected to exceed CNY900 billion (USD123.3 billion) for last year, setting a new record, according to Guo Meide, president of data platform All View Cloud. However, Guo notes that replicating such success this year will be difficult.

As of Dec. 19, 2024, around 33.3 million consumers had purchased 52.1 million home appliances, generating sales of around CNY239.1 billion (USD32.8 billion). Energy-efficient products accounted for over 90 percent of these sales, according to data from the commerce ministry.

Editor: Emmi Laine