China’s trade-in program drives holiday spending surge, boosts appliance demand

China’s consumer goods trade-in program is driving a surge in domestic spending and boosting demand for high-quality appliances, with the Labor Day holiday sparking greater consumer enthusiasm.

This initiative dates back to March 2024, when an action plan was introduced to encourage large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-ins. In January, the program was further expanded, increasing the number of home appliance categories eligible for subsidies from eight in 2024 to 12 in 2025.

In Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province, 100-inch televisions are in high demand. Ms. Xiong, one of the buyers, shared that her family had used their TV for over a decade and decided it was time for an upgrade. Encouraged by enhanced subsidies, she opted for a brand-new purchase.

“I enjoyed a subsidy of over 2,000 yuan (about 275.05 U.S. dollars). The TV is smart and family-friendly,” said Xiong.

Following the rollout of the trade-in program, demand for high-quality home appliances among county and town residents continues to surge. A local warehouse has reported a recent spike of over 30 percent in daily shipment volumes, with smart appliances such as large-screen TVs and washing-and-drying machines seeing a staggering 300 percent increase.

“This year we have built four new warehouses, and we can store 600,000 pieces of parcels. The popularity (of trade-ins) is still rising, so we are now building the fifth warehouse,” said Yao Chengyuan, the head of JD Jiangxi logistics large parcel center.

Cities have registered similar growth in consumer spending thanks to trade-in program. In a newly-opened large shopping mall in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, 90 percent of its more than 200,000 products are eligible for subsidies under the trade-in program.

On Thursday, the first day of China’s ongoing five-day Labor Day holiday, the mall received more than 30,000 customers. Salespeople said consumers have shown a stronger desire to spend on higher-priced products.

“Many customers tend to buy mid-range and high-end products. Their average price used to be around 3,000 or 4,000 yuan, but now it is around 5,000 or 6,000 yuan,” said Lyu Xiaodong, a salesman.

Sales platforms reported a 150 percent surge in store traffic on the first day of the holiday compared to last year. Sales of trade-in eligible products jumped 61 percent year on year, with computers, mobile phones, and smartwatches topping the list of best-sellers.

China marked a major milestone in its energy infrastructure on Friday as the rotor of the country’s largest-capacity pumped storage unit was successfully installed at the Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station in Tiantai County, east China’s Zhejiang Province.

The rotor of Unit 1 at the Tiantai Pumped Storage Power Station, a key project under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), was successfully hoisted into place, signaling the start of full assembly for the country’s most powerful pumped storage unit.

Often referred to as the “power bank” of the electric grid, pumped storage power stations are crucial for regulating energy supply and storing power on a large scale. The Tiantai station consists of upper and lower reservoirs, a water conveyance system, and an underground powerhouse. It will house four pump-turbine generator units, each with a capacity of 425 megawatts — the largest of their kind in the country.

The rotor installed on Friday, a core component of the unit, weighs an impressive 481 tons and measures around five meters in diameter. It is also the heaviest part of the entire installation process. The lift took over an hour, during which the massive rotor was moved horizontally more than 120 meters by two bridge cranes before being precisely placed.

“During the hoisting process, we had to control the rotor’s center deviation within 0.1 millimeters and horizontal deviation within just 0.02 millimeters, about one-third the diameter of a human hair. We used 3D laser positioning to ensure the rotor was placed accurately in one go,” said Mao Langfei, section chief of the hydropower installation team from Sinohydro Bureau No. 14 Co., Ltd.

The station’s massive tunnels, which connect the twin reservoirs, are built to withstand significant hydraulic impacts. To ensure their strength, engineers used 26,000 tons of high-strength steel — equivalent to the weight of 17,000 cars.

“For the first time, we developed and applied 1,000-megapascal high-strength hydropower steel on a large scale, along with domestically produced welding materials. This steel is more than twice as strong as conventional steel, reducing overall material usage while greatly improving welding efficiency. The technology is now world-leading,” said Qiang Linlin, deputy director of engineering management for the project.

The 425-megawatt pump-turbine units installed at the station are not only the largest in China, but also boast cutting-edge features, including a newly designed disk-type runner, 3D-printed cast components, precision CNC machining, and advanced welded assembly, marking a major step forward in the country’s push to upgrade its pumped storage technology to a more advanced level.

“To ensure the first unit is generating power by the end of this year, more than 2,200 workers are continuing construction through the May Day holiday. We’ve now completed roughly 70 percent of the overall construction,” said Jing Maogui, project manager at the station.

With a total installed capacity of 1,700 megawatts, the Tiantai pumped storage station will primarily serve the Zhejiang power grid and help balance electricity supply across east China. Upon completion, it is expected to generate 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, enough to meet the yearly electricity needs of 1.6 million people.