From December 10 to 11, the Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing. At this meeting, economic work for 2026 was arranged. When deploying next year's task of adhering to domestic demand as the main driver and building a strong domestic market, the meeting explicitly listed optimizing the implementation of the two-new policies as a key task for 2026, setting the direction for expanding domestic demand and promoting transformation in the opening year of the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan.

The so-called two-new policies refer to large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in programs for consumer goods. Among them, the consumer-goods trade-in policy that is directly related to people's interests has attracted particular attention and is commonly referred to as the national subsidy. The meeting's call to optimize the implementation of the two-new policies in 2026 means that the national subsidy policy will continue next year, although specific measures will be adjusted and improved.

To stimulate consumption, China issued 150 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bond funds in 2024 for consumer-goods trade-ins, which is the national subsidy referred to by the public. Because the policy worked well that year, China issued 300 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bond funds in 2025 for consumer-goods trade-ins, doubling the amount of the national subsidy compared with 2024.

As the core support of the two-new policies, the national subsidy has delivered remarkable results this year under the boost of 300 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bond funds. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, from January to November this year, consumer-goods trade-ins drove more than 2.5. trillion yuan in related product sales and benefited more than 360 million person-times. Among them, more than 11.2. million vehicles were replaced through trade-in programs, more than 128.44 million home appliances were traded in, subsidies for the purchase of mobile phones and other digital products exceeded 90.15 million units, more than 12.91 million electric bicycles were replaced, and home decoration, kitchen, and bathroom renewal surpassed 120 million items.

The implementation of the two-new policies over the past two years has not only provided key support for the high-end, intelligent, and green transformation of manufacturing, but also directly improved industrial-chain energy efficiency by accelerating the elimination of outdated equipment and the adoption of new technologies and equipment. At the same time, by stimulating replacement demand for major consumer goods such as home appliances, automobiles, kitchens, and bathrooms, the policy has effectively released household consumption potential and formed a virtuous cycle in which investment and consumption promote each other.

The Central Economic Work Conference explicitly called for adhering to domestic demand as the main driver and building a strong domestic market, while proposing to expand the supply of quality goods and services and release the potential of service consumption, setting the tone for the upgrade of the two-new policies in 2026.

Source: Internet