(Yicai Global) April 16 -- Guangdong, China’s biggest provincial economy, has unveiled new subsidies for rural residents buying cars and home appliances in order to boost consumption in countryside areas.

The southern province will offer discounts on vehicles and prohibit dealers from charging commission on unsecured car purchase loans for rural residents with a high credit rating, according to a document the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission posted online yesterday. Subsidized appliances include 4K televisions, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, computers, phones, rice cookers and water heaters.

The local government will use big data and artificial intelligence to handle credit ratings for rural firms and individual customers and use this information to minimize credit risks, according to the document.

Guangdong had a gross domestic product of CNY10.8 trillion (USD1.5 trillion) last year, up 6.2 percent annually as it claimed the top spot among provincial-level regions in China for the 30th straight year and continued to outpace the national average growth figure. Retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas grew 9.8 percent to CNY548 billion (USD77.5 billion).

The region will also expand broadband networks to villages with at least 20 households, ask smartphone makers to produce handsets with fifth-generation networking capabilities and priced at less than CNY1,000 (USD142) sooner, and encourage telecoms carriers to offer special data plans for rural residents, the document added.

The commission also pledged to upgrade water, electricity, gas and communication networks, advance the construction of public charging facilities in rural areas and improve distribution networks to send more couriers to villages.

Editor: James Boynton