Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is investing more than 6.5 billion yuan (US$900 million) with partners to bolster this year's nationwide trade-in programme for home appliances and consumer goods, part of Beijing's efforts to energise the country's post-pandemic economic recovery.

Most of that investment will be used to subsidise consumers for trading in their home appliances and consumer electronics goods that include personal computers and various communications devices, JD.com's Lei Sun, an executive of the Beijing-based company's home appliances and supplies unit, said on Wednesday.

"We expect this year's trade-in sales for the appliance and household-item categories to increase by 100 per cent from last year," Lei said. "A total of 20 million consumers are expected to take part in the trade-in programme with us."

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JD.com has earmarked subsidies of about 3 billion yuan each in those two categories, according to Lei. In a separate statement, JD.com said it expected more than 30 million home appliances and consumer items to be traded in through its platform this year.

The subsidies are also expected to significantly lift JD.com's trade-in sales in the country's 25,000 villages and towns, where the firm's offline presence provides consumers in the hinterland access to the programme, Lei said.

The hefty outlay for the trade-in programme reflects the 25-year-old e-commerce company's focus on helping stimulate domestic consumption, as China's first-quarter macroeconomic data triggered fresh calls for greater stimulus measures.

Government authorities, including the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), in March jointly announced a plan to boost domestic consumption by encouraging consumers to trade in and upgrade their home appliances and vehicles.

The recycling and replacement of these goods would create a trillion-yuan market, NDRC Chairman Zheng Shanjie had said at a press conference on the sidelines of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing.

Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference on the sidelines of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 6, 2024. Photo: AP alt=Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference on the sidelines of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 6, 2024. Photo: AP>

Mainland Chinese households owned more than 3 billion home appliances and 336 million vehicles as of last year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Public Security.

The Ministry of Commerce last month extolled the contributions of domestic e-commerce platforms in supporting the nationwide trade-in programme, as online purchases of trade-in merchandise more than doubled year on year in the first quarter.

JD.com last month partnered with more than 100 domestic and global home appliances and households goods companies to roll out trade-in subsidies in more than 20 provinces across the mainland. More than 200 categories were included in that scheme.

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