China Subsidizes Purchases of Energy-Saving Appliances

China is offering subsidies of as much as 400 yuan ($63) per unit to buyers of energy-saving water heaters, refrigerators and washing machines, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement yesterday.

The plan will use “explicit fiscal subsidies” to promote the use of such appliances, allowing consumers to claim those rebates directly from qualified sellers from June 1 this year to the end of May 2013, according to the statement posted on the ministry’s website.

China is taking steps to promote domestic consumption and stimulate its economy amid concerns about impact from Europe’s debt crisis. The government will allocate 26.5 billion yuan to subsidize those who buy energy-saving household appliances and 6 billion yuan for energy-efficient vehicles purchases, according to a State Council statement issued May 16.

Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. (493) climbed as much as 5.7 percent to HK$1.11 in Hong Kong trading. Suning Appliance Co. added as much as 1.5 percent.

Promotions of energy efficient flat-panel televisions and energy-saving air conditioning, which were announced earlier, are projected to stimulate consumption of more than 135 billion yuan, the Ministry of Finance said last week.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Daryl Loo in Beijing at dloo7@bloomberg.net; Alfred Cang in Shanghai at acang@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nicholas Wadhams at nwadhams@bloomberg.net; John Liu at jliu42@bloomberg.net