China’s Xi Jinping wants to boost sales of cars and appliances by encouraging consumers | World News – Business standard

The Chinese government is trying to boost sales of traditional consumer products including cars and home appliances, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing a meeting hosted by President Xi Jinping.

“Speeding up product innovation and replacement is an important measure to promote high-quality development,” Xi said at the central financial and economic meeting held on Friday, according to CCTV. “We must encourage and guide a new round of large-scale equipment upgrades and the replacement of old consumer goods with new ones.”

The Chinese leader also called for efforts to reduce logistics costs for the entire society. He called logistics the ‘arteries’ of the real economy that connect production and consumption, as well as internal and external trade.

Xi’s exhortations could boost car sales in the world’s second-largest economy, which are expected to fall 15.7% in February from the same period last year due to disruption from the Lunar New Year holiday and customers postponing their purchases in anticipation of further price cuts.

First print: February 23, 2024 | 11:59 PM IST