Small Chinese towns nourish global economy Graphic Analysis: GT

With the sown area of summer grain remaining stable and the yield per unit area increasing, the summer grain harvest in 2024, which increased by 2.5 percent year-on-year, has laid a solid foundation for stable grain production throughout the year, further enabling China to realize its grain output goal and providing support for sustained economic development.

China's output of summer grain totaled 149.78 million tons in 2024, an increase of 3.627 million tons, or 2.5 percent, over 2023 levels, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Friday.

Among them, wheat output stood at 138.22 million tons, an increase of 2.7 percent, or 3.658 million tons, over 2023. Summer grain is the first season of annual grain production in China, a bulk of which is winter wheat.

China has been an active participant in the international agricultural market. In the first half of 2024, China imported $109.54 billion worth of agricultural products, according to statistics released by the General Administration of Customs on Friday.

The sown area for summer grain remained stable at 26.613 million hectares, an increase of 45,000 hectares over 2023. The output of summer grain per unit area was 5,628 kilograms per hectare, an increase of 135.4 kilograms per hectare or 2.5 percent over 2023. Among which, wheat yield per unit area was 5985.8 kilograms per hectare, an increase of 2.6 percent, according to NBS data.

The latest harvest statistics mean that China has completed 23 percent of its annual grain output target - which is set at 1.3 trillion jin (650 million tons).

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the summer grain output accounts for one-fifth, or 20 percent, of annual grain output.

China has always placed food security high on its economic agenda.

China's summer grain harvest in 2024 laid a solid foundation for stable grain production throughout the year, and provided solid support for consolidating and enhancing the good trend of economic recovery and continuously promoting high-quality development, Wang Guirong, an official from the NBS, said on Friday, as posted on NBS website.

In recent years, China has stepped up efforts to protect and develop arable land and stabilized the sown area. These efforts have yielded sustained results and laid a solid foundation for food security, Li Guoxiang, a research fellow at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Analysts also believe that the increase in harvest and the yield per unit area is largely attributed to the application of new technologies in the farming sector, as China emphasizes the role of scientific and technological development in ensuring food security and promoting rural revitalization.
Aided by increased contributions from agricultural machinery and technology, China has secured a grain harvest of over 650 million tons for the ninth consecutive year in 2023, Xinhua News Agency reported.

In recent years, China has vigorously strengthened scientific and technological innovation and application, and the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress has increased from 54.5 percent in 2012 to more than 63 percent at present, according to media reports.

Editor's Note:
As the Chinese economy has faced challenges in recent years, some Western officials and media pundits have stepped up their smear campaign against China. They cherry-pick information and distort facts to hype their narratives such as "Peak China," but they always turn a blind eye to China's economic resilience and development potential. In order to set the record straight, the Global Times is launching a multimedia project, including in-depth articles, objective analysis and visual arts, to present a comprehensive and true picture of the economy. This is the ninth installation of the series.
Six mega hydropower stations along the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River -Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba, Three Gorges, and Gezhouba - form the world's largest clean-energy corridor, which spans over 1,800 kilometers with a water level drop exceeding 900 meters.

Now, a total of 110 hydroelectric generators are operational in the corridor, which supplies green electricity to Chinese manufacturers and households, setting a good example of sustainable development for other parts of the world in the low-carbon and green transition.

The Global Times recently made a visit to the Gezhouba Dam and the Three Gorges Dam to discover how China's hydropower sector started from scratch to become a global leader.

The Gezhouba Hydropower Station, located in Yichang, Central China's Hubei Province, was the first large-scale water control project on the main artery of the Yangtze River and was a milestone of China's hydropower generation. The first group of generator units was commissioned in 1981 and it has operated for more than 40 years safely.

By 2021, the 40th anniversary of the operation of Gezhouba Hydropower Station, the cumulative power generation exceeded 600 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), data from China Yangtze Power Co revealed.

The volume of green electricity generated is equivalent to replacing 182.94 million tons of standard coal, reducing carbon dioxide by 499.2 million tons, sulfur dioxide by 96,000 tons, and nitrogen oxide by 107,400 tons, the Global Times has learned.

The power station now possesses 21 power units with a total installed capacity of 2.777 million kilowatts (kW) and an average annual power generation of 15.7 billion kWh, according to official data.

The Gezhouba Hydropower Station continues to play a pivotal role in improving the energy structure in Central China, mitigating the pressure on coal and oil supply, and stepping up the safe operation of power grids in Central China and East China.

Mega water project

After nearly half a century of planning and construction, the world's largest clean-energy corridor was completed in December 2022, with the Baihetan Hydropower Station, located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Southwest China, becoming fully operational.

"The water from the Yangtze River passes through six hydropower stations in turn, which means that every drop of water level is used to produce electricity six times," a manager of the operator at the Baihetan hydropower station told the Global Times.

The manager said that one cubic meter of water can produce 0.25 kWh of green electricity through the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Station. With the joint operation of all six hydropower stations, up to 2 kWh of electricity can be produced by one cubic meter of water, which increases operational efficiency by eight-fold.

The total installed capacity of the six hydropower stations has already hit 71.695 million kilowatts, producing about 300 billion kWh of clean electricity annually, which can meet the annual electricity demand of 360 million people, the Global Times has learned.

By February 2024, the cumulative power generation of the six mega hydropower stations exceeded 3.5 trillion kWh, equivalent to saving more than 1 billion tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide by more than 2.8 billion tons, providing strong momentum for China's economic development.

According to calculations based on 713.7 kWh of electricity consumed for every 10,000 yuan of GDP created, the six cascade hydropower stations have created more than 48 trillion yuan ($6.6 trillion) of output value for China's economic development, an industry insider told the Global Times.
Clean and sustainable

As of the end of April this year, China's cumulative installed power generation capacity has reached 3.01 billion kW, an increase of 14.1 percent year-on-year, well ahead of a forecast published in a report by the National Energy Administration (NEA) released in 2022, which said that it expected China's installed power generation capacity is likely to exceed 3 billion kW by the end of 2025.

Hydropower development is among China's ramped up efforts to accelerate the green transition. In recent years, China has devoted itself to boosting the use of sustainable and renewable new energy sources to replace fossil fuels, typically coal.

As a result, in 2023, the installed capacity of renewable energy generation in China historically exceeded that of thermal power generation, according to statistics from the NEA.

Electricity generated by renewable energy accounted for more than one-third of China's total electricity generation in 2023, as the replacement of fossil-fuel powered energy by renewable green energy sources has continued to advance.

The development of renewable energy in China not only provides a solid energy guarantee for domestic economic development, but also contributes Chinese expertise and solutions applicable for the global renewable energy development and other countries' green and low-carbon transformation, analysts said.

More than electricity

As the Yangtze River Basin has become an important part of electricity generation, in June 2023, the "Initiative of E-Yangtze River" was jointly released by the Ministry of Transport and 13 provinces and cities.

The initiative aims to help realize China's dual carbon targets - peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, and to accelerate the development of clean hydropower in the Yangtze River Basin, as well as renovation of the ships, ports and related industries along the river.

Many new-energy-powered vessels, such as pure electric, hydrogen-fueled and LNG-fueled ships, have been built and are now operating throughout the Yangtze River Basin.

For example, the Yangtze River Three Gorges 1, the world's largest pure electric cruise ship, began commercial operations in Hubei's Yichang on March 31, 2022.

The electric ship is seen being charged at the wharf overnight, with electricity generated from the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Station. It can travel 100 kilometers on a single charge, Ye Yong, general manager of the Tourism Development Division at the Three Gorges Tourism Group, the operator Yangtze River Three Gorges 1, told the Global Times.

"Electric ships can also act as huge mobile power banks that store electricity generated at non-peak hours. In the past, without efficient energy storage equipment, electricity generated at night was largely wasted," said Ye.

Aside from power generation, the dams along the Yangtze River also provide room for reverse regulation, navigation improvement and other comprehensive benefits.

The Global Times learned that the six cascade hydropower stations have raised water levels in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, allowing large cargo ships to enter waterways that were once too shallow to navigate.

In 2023, the Three Gorges hub in Hubei Province transported 172.34 million tons of cargo through water shipment, an increase of 7.95 percent year-on-year, setting a record high, the Global Times has learned.

The surveyed average urban unemployment rate in China came in at 5.1 percent in the first half of 2024, down 0.2 percentage points from the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

The country's employment situation has maintained stability in the first half of 2024, a spokesperson with the NBS noted on Monday.

"Economic growth, especially continuous recovery in the labor-intensive services sector provides solid support for steadily expanding employment. Policies to prioritize employment continue to produce results, while the boom of emerging industries and new business models give a boost to new types of jobs," the spokesperson said.

Since the second quarter, the country's unemployment rate has stabilized at 5 percent, with wholesale and retail consumption, catering and hospitality, and transport and other service industries seeing gains in created jobs, the NBS data showed.

The artificial intelligence boom has led to significant increases in both job opportunities and compensation, as demand for tech talent remains high in China.

In the first half of the year, China's national per capita disposable income of households reached 20,733 yuan ($2,855), marking a nominal growth of 5.4 percent year-on-year. Real growth was 5.3 percent after deducting price factors, the data showed.

Employment has been a priority for the policymakers. This year, China aims to create over 12 million jobs in urban areas and keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate at about 5.5 percent.

The government has rolled out multiple measures to ensure a robust job market this year and provide more assistance to key groups, which includes college graduates and migrant workers.

In May, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security unveiled a plan to offer community-level jobs for 34,400 college graduates this year, including jobs in education, agriculture, medical care and other sectors.

China has invested 11.5 billion yuan so far this year to generate 250,000 jobs for rural residents, said the National Development and Reform Commission earlier.

With endeavors from all sectors of society, the 226-meter-long dike breach at Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake in Central China's Hunan Province, was sealed on Monday night with the restoration work proceeding from both land and water.

Zhang Yingchun, an executive vice governor of Hunan Province, said during the briefing that great efforts have been made to proceed the repairs to the breach as quickly as possible, with 485 personnel as well as 3,180 dump trucks and 85 vessels of all types being put into use without interruption.

The restoration of the dike, which started on Saturday afternoon, has accelerated since Sunday morning after the water level differences in and outside the breach narrowed and the water flow slowed down.

Rescue forces dumped rocks and raw materials into the water from four barges that contain 2,000 cubic meters of rock, while also combining the river closure measures of transverse dumping and end dumping. With these methods, experts estimated that the dike can be rebuilt at a speed of 3-4 meters per hour, the equivalent of 60 meters to 80 meters each day.

As the repairs proceeded in an orderly manner, the gap narrowed and the water flow speeded up, which caused the dumped sand and gravel to be easily washed away, increasing the difficulty of plugging the gap, an employee from China Anneng Construction Group Corp Ltd, one of the main forces undertaking the repair operation, told the Global Times on Monday.

Zhang Lirong, chief engineer from Anneng added during the Monday briefing that the biggest difficulty is that the breach with a width of 226 meters and an average water depth of more than 10 meters constitute a significant amount of work with diversified blocking material sources and long distance of transportation.

To address these difficulties, blocking materials are dumped from both land and water routes and the traffic was coordinated to assure the transportation of the materials.

"We have developed a plan to simultaneously use land and water routes for dumping and blocking, based on the conditions of the site's roads and waterways. We are enhancing traffic guidance and on-site coordinated command, and optimizing the techniques for mixing and dumping various material sources," Zhang said.

These difficulties were soon resolved in an orderly manner, according to Zhang.

Two cases of dike piping were identified on Monday morning at the 14.35-kilometer-long embankment, viewed as "the second line of defense" located between the breached dike in Tuanzhou township and the next dike in southern Qianlianghu township.

The main function of the embankment is to prevent the next embankment area from being flooded by acting as a barrier when a breach or overflow occurs in the forefront dike.

PLA officers and soldiers in Hunan Province rushed to the scene to carry out the emergency operations, according to the China Central Television (CCTV) Military Report.

Several dump trucks carrying sand and gravel arrived at the scene in less than 15 minutes. In addition, large self-unloading barges quickly transported a large amount of rocks and raw materials to the section of dike where the piping occurred.

According to experts from Hunan Provincial Department of Water Resources, the piping has been brought under initial control through efforts made by more than 300 rescue personnel, including armed police and firefighters who conducted emergency operations under the guidance of experts from the provincial department of water resources.

The PLA Southern Theater Command Air Force on Sunday night dispatched more than 700 officers and soldiers and 46 vehicles to Yueyang to carry out flood control and rescue tasks. Moreover, the PLA air force carried out tasks of patrolling and enforcing the dikes and production and life resumption tasks.

China's Ministry of Water Resources on Monday conducted consultation analyses and assessed the rainfall, water conditions, and flood situations in the Yangtze River, Huaihe River, and Yishu River basins, maintaining the Level-III flood control emergency response for East China's Anhui and Jiangxi provinces and Central China's Hubei and Hunan provinces, maintaining the Level-IV flood control emergency response for Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, East China's Shandong and Jiangsu provinces and Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, CCTV reported on Monday.

It is expected within the next 24 hours, water levels in Luoshan section, Dongting Lake, Taihu Lake in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will recede below warning levels whereas the water levels in Lianhuatang in Yueyang, the section between Jiujiang and Datong River, Poyang Lake and Xiushui county will remain above warning levels.

Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, has signed an order to commend an outstanding military unit and an individual.

Troop 92950 of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was honored with a first-class merit citation.

Liu Aijun of the Army Engineering University of the PLA was honored a third-class merit citation in defense-related science and technology.

The Two AIs: Artificial Intelligence and Artistic Intelligence forum, organized by the China Academy of Art, was held on Saturday in Shanghai. As an essential part of the 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC 2024), the forum attracted scholars, artists and technical experts from around the globe to explore the deep integration of artificial intelligence and art.

This forum delved into the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and artistic intelligence and also showcased the achievements of the China Academy of Art in promoting interdisciplinary integration and industry-academia research collaboration.

"AI's threat to humanity still comes from humans themselves. Artificial intelligence is not designed to mimic humans, nor to replace them. It has its own future, which is diverse and open," said Gao Shiming, president of the China Academy of Art.

Gao emphasized that the more advanced AI becomes, the more humanity needs artistic intelligence.

The China Academy of Art announced its continued commitment to collaborating with various sectors of society to explore new paths for high-quality development, contributing to the sustainable development of AI globally.

Professor Zhang Zheng, director of Amazon Web Services' (AWS) Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Lab, discussed the challenges of artistic creation in the era of large models, highlighting the importance of critical thinking.

"Compared to AI, humans are driven by an innate curiosity that allows us to think more deeply and explore broader unknown territories. The key is to cultivate critical thinking," Zhang noted.

Other speakers addressed the symbiotic relationship between art and technology from a historical perspective, pointing out the current lack of artistic context in AI-generated works.

Some examined AI as a new medium, stressing the importance of balance and creative control. Others argued for the need to maintain human individuality in the AI era and cautioned against over-reliance on AI technology.

After the Philippines repeatedly denied the "Gentleman's Agreement" and was later refuted by China with solid evidence, Manila has started a new political performance. On Wednesday, around 200 people on board five commercial fishing vessels set off from the Philippines, sailing toward the waters of Huangyan Dao under the banner of "defending rights," with an expected arrival on Thursday. The Philippine government has dispatched coast guard ships to escort this so-called "civilian fleet," and some Western media outlets have quickly picked up the story. This well-coordinated and professional approach is something we have seen in several previous incidents where the Philippines has stirred up trouble in the South China Sea.

Before departing, the Philippine Coast Guard deliberately emphasized that they have "nothing to do with the Philippine government," while the organizers loudly proclaimed their actions to be "civilian" and "peaceful." Such strenuous preparation has just given themselves away, revealing they know well that the move to challenge Huangyan Dao is neither a civilian action nor a peaceful one. What they are truly doing is using Philippine "fishermen" as a backdrop to provoke incidents, attempting to interfere with the normal law enforcement of the China Coast Guard and the regular fishing activities of Chinese fishermen. At the same time, they aim to gain sympathy from the international community through Western media, smear China, and incite a new round of friction or even confrontation between China and the Philippines at Huangyan Dao.

Noticeably, the so-called "civilian organization" behind this activity is far from being genuinely civilian. Its spokesperson previously publicly stated that all of the organization's activities are supported by the Philippine military. Additionally, media reports have revealed that this organization is funded by relevant American institutions. Therefore, this show is actually another act in the US' Project Myoushu in the South China Sea. Through this project, the US aims to increase its interference in the South China Sea situation, smear the law-enforcement actions of the China Coast Guard, encourage relevant countries in the South China Sea region to adopt a tough stance against China, and undermine the peaceful situation that China and other regional countries have been striving to establish. Thus, although this organization deliberately downplays its political nature on its website, it is essentially a business deal between Filipino politicians and Washington.

Huangyan Dao has always been China's territory. China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and its adjacent waters. China, as a party with absolute advantages in all aspects, has shown enough goodwill and patience toward the Philippines. China made a goodwill arrangement in 2016 for Filipino fishermen to fish with a small number of small fishing boats in the adjacent waters of Huangyan Dao, while China continues to oversee and monitor relevant activities of the Filipino fishermen in accordance with law. China has shown its utmost patience and tolerance toward the Philippines.

On one hand, the current Philippine government has accepted China's goodwill arrangement, but on the other hand, it greedily attempts to seize more benefits. It has used the urgent desire of the US to intervene in the South China Sea situation to support itself. China has always been against bullying small countries by big powers, but it will not accept any political blackmail from any country. Regarding the Philippines' show on Huangyan Dao, China has issued a clear warning: "If the Philippines abuses China's goodwill and infringes upon China's territorial sovereignty and jurisdiction, we will defend our rights and take countermeasures in accordance with the law. Relevant responsibilities and consequences shall be borne solely by the Philippines." China has always been low-key in its actions, but it will follow through with its words. Manila should understand and take in the meaning and weight of these words.

When Global Times reporters interviewed locals in the Philippines not long ago, many fishermen expressed unwillingness to participate in the Philippines' provocative actions against China. Even some US media outlets discovered during on-site interviews in the Philippines that local farmers praised a China-funded irrigation project. The outcome of the latest performance on Huangyan Dao is not difficult to predict: It will not have any impact on China's normal exercise of sovereignty on Huangyan Dao, but will only show the international community another act of lack of credibility by Manila. Not only does China see this clearly, but regional countries and the international community also see it very clearly. The current situation in the South China Sea is generally stable, and peace and cooperation are the mainstream in the region. In response to Manila's adventurism, other ASEAN countries have in general kept their distance.

There is an ancient Chinese saying: "A gentleman's acquaintance is as light as water, and a villain's acquaintance is as sweet as alcohol." Manila should carefully consider who is applauding its show in the South China Sea, giving it one sugar cube after another, and where these things that do not belong to it will ultimately push it.

The US has accused China of having "overcapacity" in new-energy industries, an area in which China is rapidly gaining strength, sparking global controversy. Yet, the US' flawed claim doesn't hold water when all relevant indicators are taken into account.

The most direct indicators for measuring overcapacity should be underutilization of capacity, low efficiency and profit reduction. If an economy suffers from overcapacity, it means that it has underutilized capacity, a large amount of unsold inventory, insufficient business operations, and needs to lower prices and reduce profits in order to move inventory.

On the contrary, if the capacity utilization rate of an economy is relatively high or similar compared with other economies and product inventory is decreasing while sales are growing rapidly, this situation cannot be called overcapacity.

Currently, the capacity utilization rate of China's industrial enterprises and the US, which accuses China of "overcapacity," both sits at around 75 percent. In addition, idle inventory in China is on a downward trend. China's manufacturing exports are also continuing to grow. Industries such as new-energy vehicles and photovoltaics are experiencing high export growth rates, with double-digit increases maintained in the first four months.

In terms of profit margins, in the first three months of this year, the profit of China's industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 4.3 percent compared to the same period last year. This indicates that China is not selling products at unreasonable prices to clear inventory.

Looking from all these aspects, the data simply does not support the claim that China is plagued by "overcapacity."

The fact is that China does not have an "overcapacity" issue as accused by the US. Instead, China has established a strong competitive edge across new-energy industries. China's companies have consolidated their advantages, especially in the solar panel and electric vehicle industries, largely outpacing American companies. This is the real issue for the US.

The competitiveness of Chinese enterprises and industries mainly comes from the high efficiency and hard-working spirit demonstrated by Chinese employees and entrepreneurs. The Chinese economy, an enormous system, has developed unparalleled economic scale in the world, which is the root of China's economic and industrial competitiveness and efficiency. 

As American industries and companies cannot compete with their Chinese counterparts, the US hopes to use any available unfair tactic to undermine China. However, the US government's economic policies do not conform to objective economic laws. The US' attempts to attribute China's success to subsidies and other factors will be futile in hindering the progress of Chinese industries.

The series of economic policies of the Biden administration are not in line with objective economic laws and counterproductive in advancing the development of its manufacturing industry, only adding obstacles to the normal operation and development of its manufacturing industry and companies. The Biden administration's efforts to revive manufacturing, reindustrialize, and achieve other goals will not be able to make real progress in this manner.

The emergence of the US' so-called "overcapacity" rhetoric against China's new-energy industries is also because the US needs to concoct a pretext to justify taking hostile measures and protectionist approaches against Chinese industries. The Biden administration has announced new tariffs as high as 100 percent on Chinese electric vehicles and additional import taxes on other Chinese goods. The Biden administration has been justifying this move with hype of "overcapacity" and "unfair competition."

The US accuses China of "overcapacity" while putting in place $370 billion in subsidies to the clean energy industry through its Inflation Reduction Act, which is a typical double-standard approach. If the US goes further in the wrong direction of protectionism and politicizing economic issues, it will only create more disruptions to the development of its economy and industries.

The US sees China as its top strategic rival rather than cooperating partner, but China is willing to engage in fair competition with the US. The US was once a great country. Hopefully, the US can return to fair and free competition and engage in win-win cooperation with China.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, held a symposium in recent days with representatives of private companies on trade-ins of large-scale equipment and consumer products, according to a post seen on Monday on the NDRC's WeChat account.

The meeting added to a series of moves by the Chinese central government and departments to promote the upgrading of consumer items. Since the sweeping plan to shore up consumption was launched in March, spending on consumer goods has jumped, data from the country's e-commerce platforms showed. Sales of some items doubled during the just-concluded five-day May Day holidays that ended on Sunday.

Observers said that the spending spree presages a stepped-up recovery in the consumer market, which only grew mildly in the first quarter. Analysts expect that the trade-in fueled consumption could open up a huge market worth trillions of yuan throughout the year. They expect retail sales to grow more than 5 percent in 2024, helping the economy to navigate through rising headwinds and meet the GDP growth target of about 5 percent.

Private firms that took part in the NDRC meeting included battery maker Tianneng Group, equipment manufacturer Xizi UHC and Canny Elevator. Company attendees highlighted the huge market potential of equipment upgrades, which could help them improve their technology and competitiveness. Upgrades could also improve living standards and enhance the standards of public services such as education and healthcare, the NDRC post noted.

The meeting aligns with an overall plan the State Council, the country's cabinet, released in March, which aims to promote the large-scale renewal of equipment and trade-ins of consumer goods.

Since then, various Chinese departments have announced trade-in stimulus plans for different consumer goods, including vehicles, home appliances, industrial equipment and home decoration goods. The overarching plan has also been endorsed by dozens of localities such as Shanghai, East China's Zhejiang and Shandong provinces, and Central China's Henan Province, which issued corresponding detailed measures to fast-track the implementation of the plan.

These concrete efforts have borne fruit, the Global Times learned.

A spokesperson of e-commerce platform Suning told the Global Times on Monday that the new plan has "largely unleashed consumer vitality in the home appliance market."

The platform provided consumers who joined the trade-in plan during the May Day holidays with up to 5,000 yuan ($693.73) in subsidies and 10 percent price discounts on new consumer items.

According to data provided by Suning, sales of green, energy-saving appliances more than doubled during the May Day holidays thanks to the trade-in policy, while orders for home appliance renovations and replacements expanded by 96 percent year-on-year. Orders for replacement air conditioners jumped by 78 percent.

Another Chinese e-commerce platform, JD.com Inc, has not released its to-date sales data. But according to a statement the company sent to the Global Times on Monday, it is estimated that more than 20 million users will participate in the company's home appliance and home furnishings trade-in program, with more than 30 million units of used goods being recycled so far in 2024.

A number of Chinese vehicle makers including BYD, Xpeng and Nio have also joined the trade-in program, providing subsidies for consumers who scrapped old cars in exchange for new-energy vehicles, the Securities Times reported on Monday.

Observers said that consumer goods such as home appliances and vehicles are the leaders in taking advantage of the trade-in policy. The effects of the policy will gradually expand to large commodities such as industrial products and large-scale equipment.

He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Monday that the impact of the trade-in policy will be more apparent in the second half of the year.

"It is estimated that the policy could drive China's GDP by less than 1 percent in 2024, which is quite valuable," he said, calling for more substantial inputs from the government and companies to consolidate the result.

Analysts pointed out an imbalance in the recovery of China's consumption, as services consumption has been picking up while that of consumer goods remains "modest."

As the trade-in program is set to inject new vitality into goods consumption, He Weiwen projected that retail sales will accelerate in the second quarter and expand by 5-7 percent this year.

Retail sales rose 4.7 percent year-on-year to 12.03 trillion yuan in the first quarter, National Bureau of Statistics data showed.