Foreign-invested firms benefit from China's trade-in program

BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Foreign-invested firms have actively participated in China's consumer goods trade-in program and have benefited equally from it, the Ministry of Commerce said Friday.

In the automobile trade-in program, new cars from foreign brands account for over 35 percent of sales. Driven by the program, sales of foreign car companies have seen a significant rebound, Li Gang, an official of the ministry, told a press conference.

In September, passenger car sales for 10 major foreign-invested car companies increased by 15.5 percent month on month, while in October, sales rose by 4.1 percent compared to the previous month, Li said.

The trade-in program has made marked progress with consistent popularity, Li added, noting that as of Thursday, nearly 2.7 million vehicles have been scrapped and replaced nationwide, while 3.1 million have been traded in.

More than 33.3 million consumers had purchased 52.1 million trade-in home appliances, over 53 million subsidized home improvement products, and more than 1 million electric bicycles as of Thursday.

Li said that the ministry is working with relevant parties to study and formulate trade-in policies for next year. ■