China's consumer goods trade-in program helps boost demand

BEIJING, July 22 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer goods trade-in program has spurred purchases of more than 109 million home appliances so far this year, engaging more than 66 million consumers, as the country stepped up efforts to boost domestic demand.

The program has driven sales of more than 74 million digital devices and nearly 9.06 million electric bicycles, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.

Previous statistics from the ministry showed that in the first five months of this year, the trade-in program generated 1.1 trillion yuan (about 153.93 billion U.S. dollars) in sales.

Boosted by the program, China's retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 5 percent year on year in the first half of this year. The pace of growth is 0.4 percentage points faster than the growth recorded in the first quarter.