MK sports South China's Guangdong Province on January 15, 2025. Photo: VCG" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-01-16/1e975947-08cb-4f33-bd8e-c588fef9c7d9.jpeg" />

Consumers browse smartphones in a store in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province on January 15, 2025. Photo: VCG

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday that it treats domestic and foreign-funded enterprises equally and supports those that meet the criteria to participate in the current digital product subsidy policy.

Li Jialu, an official with the MOFCOM, made the remarks as the ministry on Wednesday released a plan detailing subsidy measures for purchasing new smartphones and other digital products, which covers both domestic and foreign brands.

Under the plan, individual consumers purchasing smartphones, tablets, smartwatches or wristbands priced below 6,000 yuan ($834.6) per item will receive a subsidy covering 15 percent of the product's sales price, according to the plan. Each consumer can receive a maximum subsidy of 500 yuan per item, with a limit of one subsidized item per category for each customer, per the plan, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China's market remains open and inclusive, Li told a press conference on Thursday. In the home appliance trade-in program of 2024, sales of foreign brands accounted for 12.3 percent, with the volume accounting for 7.2 percent, Li said.  

"Drawing on our experience with the home appliance trade-in program, we will continue to welcome and support foreign enterprises and brands in participating in the smartphone purchase subsidies," the official said.

Li stated that no unreasonable barriers should be imposed. All eligible businesses and products meeting subsidy categories and standards will receive equal support.

China will gradually roll out subsidies for purchasing new mobile phones and other digital products starting from January 20. The exact implementation timeline will be subject to local announcements, Li said.

China is the world's largest manufacturing hub for consumer electronics such as phones and tablets, hosting major global brands with large-scale production bases. From January to November 2024, China produced 1.504 billion phones, with a total of 393 new models launched, which can meet users' personalized upgrade needs, Xu Wenli, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said during the conference.

"China is a major player in the smartphone industry with numerous domestic brands, and the new subsidy policy, which treats domestic and foreign enterprises equally, reflects fairness and an increasingly open business environment of China. This also boosts the confidence of foreign enterprises in investing and growing in China," Bian Yongzu, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine, told the Global Times on Thursday.

In March, the State Council released an action plan to implement large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, nearly 15 years after the last such renewal campaign, according to Xinhua.

The Chinese central government has pre-allocated 81 billion yuan in funds to continue the consumer goods trade-in program and ensure seamless implementation of the policy in more localities in 2025, an official of the Ministry of Finance said at a press briefing held by the State Council Information Office on January 8.