Plan Formulated for Adding Subsidized Home Appliances Supplied to Countryside

Recently, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China have jointly published the "Notice on Issuing the Plan of Adding Subsidized Home Appliances Supplied to Countryside and on Confirming Questions about the Addition", which confirms the to-be-added home appliances subsidized and supplied to countryside, the subsidy limits and the implementation solution, providing concrete arrangement for the addition measures.

The Notice holds the view that the policy of supplying subsidized home appliances to countryside plays an important role in supporting rural development and in driving domestic consumption and production, along with increasing practices and rapid effects since its initiation. According to the decision made by the 91st session of the Standing Committee of the State Council, all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities are permitted to select and add one new kind of home appliance, in addition to existing 9 kinds, into the list of subsidized appliances for countryside, with the aim of furthering the policy's role.

The Notice not only confirms new subsidized appliances applied for by various local governments, focusing on six kinds including smoke exhaust ventilator, electric bicycle and gas stove, but also specifies the subsidy ceilings of the added appliances with RMB338 yuan, RMB260 yuan and RMB195 yuan respectively for smoke exhaust ventilator, electric bicycle and gas stove.

The Notice states that the duration of adding subsidized home appliances, at most 2 sets/pieces allowed for each household, shall be consistent with that of local implementation of the policy. Moreover, the models of the added appliances shall be determined through open tender by provincial departments of finance, commerce, and industry and information technology. And the price ceilings shall be determined through local synthetic study of farmers' consumption capacity, commodities' market share and price structure, etc. with the outcomes registered with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Besides, the Notice makes it clear that both farmers and employees in State-owned farms shall remain subsidized within limits, at 13 percent of market prices, in buying the added appliances within their registered residential areas (within any province, autonomous region or municipality), the central and provincial finance accounting for respectively 80 percent and 20 percent of the subsidy, while the central finance alone taking on the total subsidy for both 5 ethnic autonomous regions (including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet and Guangxi) and 51 worst-hit counties by 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province. .