Ministry of Commerce: Enjoy immediate payment discounts when purchasing products such as phones.

On January 16, the Ministry of Commerce held a special news conference on the implementation of new subsidies for the purchase of digital products such as mobile phones. Li Jialu, Director of the Department of Circulation Development of the Ministry of Commerce, mentioned that consumers purchasing products such as mobile phones, whether through online platforms or physical stores, can enjoy instant discounts and subsidies to benefit from them. Regarding price supervision, Lu Huiling, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, pointed out the encouragement of policy-participating enterprises to make price commitments. Those who fail to fulfill or refuse to fulfill price commitments without legitimate reasons, engage in false discounts, and other illegal activities will be dealt with according to the law. In terms of risk warning mechanisms, through information technology, monitoring of logistics delivery data will be carried out to prevent false transactions, selling of one product to multiple buyers, and hoarding, ensuring the authenticity and effectiveness of buyer transactions and meeting the actual needs of consumers, resolutely maintaining market order, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. The text of the speech is as follows: The Ministry of Commerce holds a special news conference on the implementation of new subsidies for the purchase of digital products such as mobile phones He Yadong: Good afternoon, dear journalists. Welcome to the special news conference of the Ministry of Commerce. Recently, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, issued the "Implementation Plan for Subsidies for the Purchase of Smartphones, Tablets, and Smart Watches (Fitness Trackers)" and the "Notice on the Work of Refurbishing Home Appliances in 2025." To help everyone better understand the situation, today we are very pleased to invite Mr. Li Jialu, Director of the Department of Circulation Development of the Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Xu Wenli, Deputy Director of the Department of Information of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Mr. Zhang Zhengming, Deputy Director of the Price Supervision and Competition Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation, Ms. Lu Huiling, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, and Ms. Qiao Fang, Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, to introduce the situation and answer your questions. Now, let's first invite Director Li Jialu to give an introduction. Li Jialu: Thank you, host. Good afternoon, dear journalists. Thank you for your attention and support for the implementation of the subsidies for the purchase of smartphones, tablets, and smart watches. The Central Economic Work Conference requires a comprehensive expansion of domestic demand, the implementation of special actions to boost consumption, and the implementation of the "Two New" policies. On January 5, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance issued the "Notice on Further Expanding the Implementation of Large-Scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Replacement by 2025." To implement and implement relevant policies well, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, recently issued the "Implementation Plan for Subsidies for the Purchase of Smartphones, Tablets, and Smart Watches (Fitness Trackers)," which was also announced yesterday, on January 15. We will implement the work requirements of the Central Economic Work Conference as early as possible, guide localities to implement their responsibilities in accordance with the unified standards specified in the "Two New" notice, and promptly introduce detailed implementation rules in each region. The subsidy for the purchase of mobile phones and other digital products is a new policy to be implemented in 2025, with a wide coverage and high social attention. We actively urge various regions to complete all preparations as soon as possible and allow the people to enjoy the benefits of central policies as soon as possible. Here, I would like to report to you that according to the current work schedule, regions across the country will gradually implement subsidies for the purchase of mobile phones and other digital products from January 20 onwards, with the specific implementation time subject to local announcements. Next, I will briefly introduce the situation. Mobile phones and other digital products have the characteristics of high popularity, high individual value, high update frequency, and high technological content. The implementation of subsidies for new purchases, not based on "trading in old products," as a policy to benefit the people and promote consumption, is conducive to reducing purchase costs, improving people's quality of life, boosting consumption, expanding domestic demand, stimulating industrial vitality, and promoting high-quality development. The commercial system nationwide will carry out three aspects of work in the specific organization and implementation process. First, we will insist on convenience and benefits for the people. Taking into account the shopping habits of the masses, we will adhere to the coordination between online and offline, encourage instant discounts at the payment stage, diversify payment methods as much as possible, and maximize the protection of the consumption rights of the masses. At the same time, we encourage mobile phone producing and distributing enterprises to carry out actual preferential activities, support mobile operators in implementing consumer-friendly policies such as credit purchases, and deploy a combination of policies to provide consumers with more benefits. At the same time, we will protect the personal information security of consumers in all aspects. Second, we will ensure fairness and justice. We will guide localities to implement the requirements of building a unified national market, not artificially set unreasonable thresholds, support various types of operating entities that meet the conditions to participate in subsidy policies on an equal basis, and support products that meet the unified subsidy categories and standards to participate in subsidy policies on an equal basis. Third, we will ensure the security of funds. We will strengthen coordination between the central and local governments, enhance the construction of digital platforms, use technical means to cross-check and verify information at various stages such as subsidy application, transaction payment, and fund verification, to ensure the authenticity of buyer's identity information and transaction information. Conduct big data analysis, strengthen monitoring and forecasting of false transactions, selling one product to multiple buyers, hoarding, etc., take effective measures together with relevant departments to strictly prevent risks. Furthermore, with the support of all parties, the work of replacing old household appliances with new ones in 2024 has achieved positive results. The Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, recently issued and announced the "Notice on the Work of Replacing Old Household Appliances with New Ones by 2025." Various regions will also organize implementation in the near future. The key points of the work of replacing old household appliances with new ones in 2025 will highlight "expansion" and "convenience." In terms of "expansion," based on summarizing the practices of the work of replacing old household appliances with new ones in 2024 and judging the actual consumption in urban and rural areas, the previous eight categories of household appliances will be expanded to twelve categories, including new categories such as microwave ovens, water purifiers, dishwashers, and rice cookers. At the same time, the number of air conditioners that can be subsidized per person will be expanded to three. In terms of "convenience," we encourage carrying out both the subsidy for new purchases and make it convenient for people to trade in old products. Priority support will be given to operating entities with strong capacities for recycling old appliances and providing recycling services actively to participate in activities for replacing old with new. Various measures will be taken to facilitate the exchange of new and old appliances, accelerate the improvement of the recycling system of old household appliances and other recycled resources, and promote the formation of an effective mechanism for "easier to get rid of the old, more willing to exchange for new." It is important to note that we will continue to improve various measures based on a careful summary of the 2024 work experience, do a good job in the subsidies for the purchase of products such as mobile phones and the replacement of household appliances for new ones. However, due to reasons such as the short period of work implementation and large differences in the situation of various regions, there are still some issues in the work that need to be addressed.Feet. We hope that the vast majority of consumers actively propose opinions and suggestions. We will continue to work hard to improve our work, constantly improve the consumer experience, and ensure the effectiveness of policies and the security of funds. Wanda E-commerce Chain Technology Co., Ltd. This is an automatic translation and may not be accurate.Responsibility, cooperate with the local authorities to implement policies, ensure the authenticity of transactions and the security of funds. () Note: This text appears to be a transcript of a speech or interview related to a government policy on subsidies for replacing old electronic devices with new ones. The first part discusses the importance of treating all types of enterprises equally and supporting small and medium-sized businesses. The second part outlines measures for strengthening regulation in areas such as price and product quality. The third part provides updates on the implementation of the subsidy policy for replacing old electronic devices with new ones in Beijing.Financial institutions support and carry out a series of consumer promotion activities, striving to allow more affordable products to reach consumers, so that they can have a satisfactory and happy New Year. 2025The household appliance policy has been fully implemented and seamlessly connected since January 1, 2025, ensuring that the policy is continuously implemented without interruption. As of January 15th, a total of 130,000 units of 8 major categories of household appliances have been sold, with a total sales amount of 480 million yuan. Consumers can participate in subsidy activities by going to the Sichuan Household Appliances Trade-in Area on the platform and mobile applications.1. The second is to comprehensively carry out the implementation preparation for this year's work. In 2025, on the basis of the original 8 categories of household appliances, 4 new categories of products have been added, including microwave ovens, water purifiers, dishwashers, and rice cookers. Currently, the selection of participating enterprises has been carried out, with 6,314 companies from the first two batches confirmed, involving 13,218 stores, 593 online merchants, including various large platform companies. Market entities that meet the conditions are welcome to join the subsidy activities at any time. The province has completed the drafting of provincial-level work plans, upgrades to provincial-level platforms, and the inclusion of participating enterprises and products, achieving interoperability with the Ministry of Commerce system. The policy issuance is progressing according to procedures, and consumers can pay attention to official information releases from Sichuan. In order to facilitate consumer participation in the subsidy activities, we have innovatively integrated the provincial platform with multiple platform enterprises and mobile applications for direct application, reducing the need for platform switching. We are currently coordinating with financial institutions to strengthen financing and credit support for small and micro-enterprises, easing the pressure of advance funding. 2. The third is to establish a comprehensive risk prevention and control mechanism. Strengthen information management and empower with big data. Develop risk prevention and control plans, establish municipal and county-level reviews, benchmark pricing models, real-name invoices, on-site verification, image feedback, and online risk prevention mechanisms. We are researching the "payment + invoicing" 2.0 model to improve the convenience of invoicing and the accuracy of invoice information. We have already connected with major brand mobile phone manufacturers, collecting information on over 13 million product barcodes, and are currently building a provincial-level database to strengthen verification and comparison. After the policy is implemented, we will conduct comprehensive process tracking audits, strengthen supervision and inspection, prevent fraudulent subsidy activities, and create a good atmosphere for exchanging old for new. Next, we will follow the arrangements and deployment of the Ministry of Commerce, learn from the experiences and practices of sister provinces, seize important consumption points, strengthen publicity and mobilization, comprehensively promote policy implementation, and make more contributions to expanding the policy nationwide. Thank you. He Yadong: If there are no further questions, today's press conference will end here. Thank you to all the presenters, and thank you to all journalist friends.