(Yicai) Feb. 10 -- More than 20 million Chinese consumers have applied to enjoy purchase subsidies for new digital products, such as mobile phones, tablets, and smartwatches, in the 20 days since launch.

About 20.1 million consumers applied for 25.4 million purchase subsidies between Jan. 20 and Feb. 8, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce.

For products priced at up to CNY6,000 (USD820), the government will provide a subsidy of 15 percent. Each consumer can receive a one-time subsidy for one item of each category, with a maximum subsidy of CNY500 (USD68) per item.

The digital product purchase subsidy policy has boosted both the sales volume and value of phones.

The week before the Chinese New Year holiday, which was also the first week after the subsidy policy came into effect, mobile phones’ sales volume and value soared 74 percent and 65 percent, respectively, from the previous week and 30 percent and 34 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

During the Chinese New Year holiday, the sales volume of mobile phones priced below CNY2,000, between CNY2,000 and CNY4,000, and between CNY4,000 and CNY6,000 jumped 10 percent, 52 percent, and 108 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.

Over 6,000 merchants participated in the digital product purchase subsidy policy through China UnionPay, resulting in nearly 6.3 million transactions worth a total of CNY20.6 billion (USD2.8 billion), according to data from UnionPay, the world’s largest credit, debit, and prepaid card provider.

In addition to digital products, China will also continue to strengthen support for the trade-in programs for automobiles, home appliances, home renovations, and electric bicycles this year.

This year, the MOFCOM will intensify and expand the implementation of trade-in programs for consumer goods to stabilize the fundamentals of consumption, Li Gang, director of the commerce ministry’s market operation and consumption promotion department, said at a press conference in January.

The central government has already allocated the first batch of CNY81 billion funds for the trade-in program for consumer goods for this year, Li noted.

Editor: Futura Costaglione