(Yicai Global) March 3 -- Hisense Group’s chairman will put forward a proposal at the so-called Two Sessions, China’s upcoming annual policy setting meetings, to promote household upgrading to green and smart home appliances by supporting the recycling of used home appliances.

Jia Shaoqian, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, said in the proposal that due to the pandemic, real estate policy, and the increase in the penetration rate of home appliances in the past few years, sales have fallen and the industry has built up large stocks.

Promoting a trade-in system could not only boost demand and push upgrading in the home appliance industry, but also reduce carbon emissions, Jia said.

According to smart home data platform AVC, China's home appliance retail sales reached CNY654.3 billion (USD94.8 billion) in the first 11 months of last year, down 7.2 percent from the same period of 2021. The demand for the traditional big home appliances has cooled, but there is growing interest in multi-functional smart devices.

Jia suggested a nationwide special consumption voucher campaign for home appliances, lasting at least three months, with wider coverage so as to draw in more rural consumers. He also suggested setting a higher threshold for using the vouchers, such as no less than CNY2,000 (USD290) for one large home appliance. This could encourage purchases of high-quality products, he said.

Jia also said there should be a focus on supporting the rural market to promote a new round of buying in the countryside. Rural areas and small towns and cities have 70 percent of China's population, but account for just 31.5 percent of retail sales of for home appliances. Sales in this market rose almost 9 percent to CNY277.5 billion (USD40.2 billion) in 2021, much faster than in the overall home appliances market.

Jia also suggested building a recycling network for used home appliances and promoting the standardization of qualified recycling centers.

Editor: Tom Litting