China to Subsidize Smartphone Purchases in Bid to Lift Spending
- Expanded trade-in program to cover also tablets, smartwatches
- Beijing last month made boosting domestic demand top priority
China previously subsidized mobile phone purchases as part of a broad consumption stimulus plan that began in late 2007 to counter the impact of the global financial crisis.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China will expand consumption subsidies to cover smartphones and other electronics, in a step to promote domestic spending as external headwinds pick up.
A national trade-in program that currently applies to home appliances and cars will broaden this year to include personal devices like phones, tablets and smartwatches, officials from the nation’s top economic planning agency said in a briefing Friday.