National Development and Reform Commission: "Two New" policies in the first quarter of the year continue to show results and stimulate consumer activity.

Since the beginning of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission has thoroughly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, working together with relevant departments in various regions to make full and efficient use of long-term special national bond funds, and continue to promote the effectiveness of the "two new" policies. In the first quarter, the "two new" policies drove a 19% year-on-year increase in investment in equipment and instruments, and a 4.6% year-on-year increase in total retail sales of consumer goods, providing strong support for expanding consumption, stabilizing investment, promoting transformation, and benefiting the people. 1. Enhancing consumer vitality. In the first quarter, driven by policies such as replacing old items with new ones in sectors like automobiles, home appliances, mobile phones, electric bicycles, and home renovations, the retail sales of communication equipment, household appliances and audiovisual equipment, and furniture for designated enterprises nationwide increased by 26.9%, 19.3%, and 18.1% respectively year-on-year. The growth rates were accelerated by 0.7, 8.4, and 6.4 percentage points compared to January and February. Retail sales of cultural and office supplies increased by 21.7%, contributing to a 1.4 percentage point increase in total retail sales of consumer goods. In March, retail sales of automobiles increased by 5.5% compared to January and February. 2. Driving investment growth. In the first quarter, investment in equipment and instruments increased by 19% year-on-year, accelerating by 1 percentage point compared to January and February and outpacing overall investment by 14.8 percentage points. It contributed 64.6% to the growth of total investment, an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared to January and February. Investments in consumer goods manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, manufacturing technology upgrades, and raw material manufacturing, closely related to the "two new" initiatives, increased by 13.5%, 8.9%, 7.2%, and 4.3%, respectively, outpacing overall investment by 9.3, 4.7, 3.0, and 0.1 percentage points. 3. Facilitating economic circulation. This led to simultaneous improvement in production and efficiency in related industries. In the first quarter, the value added of large-scale general equipment, special equipment, automobiles, smart consumer devices, and household electrical appliances manufacturing increased by 9.4%, 4.1%, 11.8%, 11.4%, and 10% year-on-year. The recycling of important resources was accelerated, with over 2,800 new smart community recycling facilities added nationwide in the first quarter. The amount of discarded electronic products recycled increased by 70%, and the recycling rate of waste steel, waste nonferrous metals saw a steady increase. 4. Improving standards. In the first quarter, 17 new national standards were released in the "two new" areas. So far, out of the planned 294 national standards to be developed or revised by 2024 and 2025 in the "two new" areas, 185 have been issued. 85 national standards related to equipment updates were issued, supporting industrial transformation and upgrade. 57 national standards related to the replacement of old items with new ones in sectors like home appliances, home furnishings, automobiles, and kitchenware were released, ensuring the quality and safety of consumer goods. 43 national standards related to recycling and reuse were published, supporting the high-level recycling of waste products and equipment. 5. Supporting the development of the private economy. Since 2024, long-term special national bond funds have actively tilted towards financing large-scale equipment updates for private enterprise projects, with over 80% of funding in the industrial equipment renewal and recycling sectors going to private enterprises. The long-term special national bond funds also support the replacement of old consumer goods such as automobiles, home appliances, mobile phones, and home renovations, all of which are traditional advantage sectors of the private economy. In the first quarter, private investment (excluding real estate development private investment) increased by 6.0%, with private investment in manufacturing and infrastructure growing by 9.7% and 9.3% respectively. Market confidence continued to rise, with the purchasing managers' index for manufacturing reaching 50.5% in March, marking the second consecutive month of growth. This article is selected from the official account of the National Development and Reform Commission, edited by GMTEight: Jiang Yuanhua.